Bodies of two men recovered in Oconee County after five-day search

OCONEE COUNTY — The bodies of two young men, missing since Friday, have been discovered in McNutt Creek near its junction with Barber Creek in Oconee County.

The announcement of the discovery of Bryant Wade and Cameron Smith, both 18, was posted on the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.

In addition, Sheriff Scott Berry made the announcement to media gathered at the scene of the recovery efforts.

“This morning shortly after 11 o’clock, within five minutes of each other and 50 yards away from each other, we located both boys,” said Berry.

Berry offered no other details on the discovery of the victims, and he asked for privacy for the families, who were with recovery teams during the search efforts.

Wade was from Madison County and Smith was from Oconee County.

Wade apparently fell from a dam over Barber Creek just before 4 p.m. on Friday, June 1. Smith went into the water to try to help Wade. The water in the creek was moving rapidly because of recent heavy rains.