Ga. man drowns in northeast Ala.

FORT PAYNE, Ala. (AP) A Georgia man is dead following a weekend drowning in northeast Alabama.

Officials say 19-year-old Ricardo Perez of Rome was found in 9 feet of water in Little River Canyon on Saturday night.

Perez and friends reportedly were trying to swim across Little River when Perez went under the water earlier in the day.

The superintendent of the Little River Canyon preserve, Gail Bishop, says Perez was the first person to drown in the canyon this year.