Local law enforcement and first responders identified the person whose body was found in the waters of Jordan Lake on Friday night.

On Monday, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office shared a release saying the deceased is a Chapel Hill resident. The update added that investigators recovered the man’s personal belongings nearby, including “materials indicating the death may have been self-inflicted.”

A release from the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office on Friday said sheriff’s deputies responded to Jordan Lake near the North Carolina Highway 751 bridge — which is just south of Durham County — around 7 p.m. Monday’s update from the law enforcement agency said a fisherman in the area saw the body floating in the water and called for help.

Responding crews ultimately transported the body to the North Carolina Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

The body recovery is the first reported at Jordan Lake this calendar year. The latest publicly reported came in Sept. 2025, when law enforcement recovered the body of a community member believed to be experiencing a mental health crisis. It was the fifth fatal incident of the calendar year in the lake’s waters the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office investigated.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting 741-741. The free, private support is available 24/7.

Editor’s Note: This story was initially published on Saturday, May 16. It has since been updated with the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office’s identification of the body, which has been removed based on requests from the affected family.

Photo via the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office.

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