T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA A body was found along the shoreline, slightly south of the I-470 bridge on the Ohio side of the Ohio River.

BELLAIRE – A body was recovered along the shoreline slightly south of the I-470 bridge on the Ohio side of the Ohio River in the early morning on Monday.

Wheeling Police Department spokesman Philip Stahl said that due to the river falling within West Virginia’s jurisdiction, the Wheeling Police Department was notified by the Bellaire Police Department.

“Around 8:20 a.m. a worker on the Ohio side noticed a body in the river and notified authorities,” he said. “Wheeling police and fire then got involved because that’s our response area. Fire department personnel were then able to remove the body from the river.”

He added that the body will be taken to the medical examiner’s office in Charleston for an autopsy and the Wheeling Police Department’s Detective Division will continue to investigate the matter locally while waiting on the autopsy information.

“The body will be taken to Charleston for positive identification which can sometimes take a couple of days to a couple of weeks. And then our detectives will continue to work to determine the manner and the cause of death,” Stahl said. “The body was located near a barge on the Ohio side. There was a worker along a dock along the shoreline there that found the body located near a barge.”

He added that it is currently too soon to confirm if the body was male or female as well as the cause of death.

Both Ohio and West Virginia emergency response units were active on the scene such as Bellaire Police Department, Bridgeport Police Department, and Wheeling Police and Fire Departments were able to secure the scene and quickly recover the body.

Stahl said that the Wheeling Fire Department used a boat to retrieve the body out of the river.