Saturday, August 18, 2012

Fishermen find body in Puyallup River

Shortly after 10AM on Saturday, August 18th the Fife Police Dispatch Center received a call from two fishermen in the 7100 block of N. Levee Road who said they believed they had located a deceased person in the Puyallup River.  Fife Officers responded and the fishermen directed them to where they had located the body.  The body was caught in some debris in the river just offshore in a brushy area. It was readily apparent to first responders that the subject had been in the water for an extended period of time.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Swift Water Rescue Team responded for the recovery operation. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office arrived and advised they believed the subject was a person that had gone missing while inner tubing in the Puyallup River on July 8th near Orting.  The clothing matched the description from their missing persons case and it appeared there were no obvious signs of foul play. 

The Swift Water Rescue Team recovered the subject with assistance of Tacoma Fire Personnel and Fife Police Department.  The subject was transported to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office for further identification efforts.  The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is the lead agency on the investigation.