A 19-year-old Newberry man drowned in Putnam County late Saturday while staying at a lake house with five college friends.

Maj. Keith Riddick, with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said David Lamont James, 19, a Santa Fe Community College student, was last seen by his friends around midnight Saturday. They were staying over the weekend at a lake house that belongs to one of the friends on Lake Lak-A-Wanna near Hawthorne, Riddick said. It is northwest of Lake McMeekin.

The group of SFCC and University of Florida students had been boating on the lake overnight Saturday, and Riddick said it was believed alcohol might have played a role in the drowning.

"We know they were drinking, but we don't know to what extent," Riddick said. "All the statements we got from the other five is that (James) doesn't drink much."

Riddick said deputies were also told that James wasn't a strong swimmer.

James' friends called police around noon Sunday to report that they had not seen him since around midnight, Riddick said. Shortly after deputies arrived, James was found by his friends about 100 yards from the shore.

James, an SFCC student, is from the Newberry area. His death was ruled a drowning by the Medical Examiner's Office, Riddick said.