Body pulled from Muskingum River
White male found wearing swimsuit, no identification
MARIETTA — Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks reported that a male body was pulled out of the Muskingum River at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
“He’s been in the water for two to four days,” said Mincks. “We received the call from people who lived north of Lowell who said they were in a pontoon boat and following a floating body down the river.”
Mincks said the boaters had come from the campground north of Lowell where they had initially spotted the body floating.
“He’s a white male and I would say mid-thirties or forties,” noted Mincks. “He had I believe black hair cut high and tight but the top was long enough to fall over his eyes.”
Mincks said the boaters were able to lasso the leg of the man and pull him to shore where the Lowell-Adams Volunteer Squad brought the body on land at 12351 State Route 60, just north of Lowell about 1.5 miles.
Mincks said the identity of the body was still unknown, though three tattoos may help identify him.
“He has a tattoo across his stomach that says ‘I love my wife’ and script on his upper left arm that spells out ‘Sin’ in cursive,” said the sheriff. “Then on his right ankle he has the initials ‘THC’ like what’s in marijuana.”
A wallet or form of identification was not found.
“He was only wearing a swimsuit and he did have a watch on his right wrist that was turned upside down with the buckle on top,” said Mincks. “We will be out canvassing more of the campgrounds Friday trying to find out who he was. He must have a wife missing him.”
Mincks said the body was transported to Montgomery County for an autopsy, fingerprinting and DNA.
Further investigation into the death will be conducted by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.