BELLAIRE?- Investigators have very few leads after recovering the body of an unidentified man from the Ohio River near Bellaire Monday afternoon.
Wheeling Deputy Police Chief Martin Kimball said the body was in the water for "awhile," making identification very difficult. Investigators have been unable to determine the man's race or age, and other physical features such as eye color and height were not available. The man had what appeared to be a tattoo on his right forearm. He was wearing a black t-shirt, jeans and boots.
There were no marks or wounds found on the initial viewing of the body that would indicate the man was injured by another person before entering the river, Kimball said, but he noted decomposition can mask such marks.
A man on the Ohio side of the river noticed the body bobbing in the water after a boat passed. A boat from the Wheeling fire department, along with Wheeling police, pulled the body from the river after responding around 4 p.m. The body was transported to a medical examiner's office, and an autopsy is pending. Kimball said he does not know when to expect the results of the autopsy.
Wheeling police are handling the ongoing investigation, and Kimball said they are checking with other local law enforcement agencies for any missing person reports.
