Male died of drowning; identity not yet known
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
HANOVER TWP. — An autopsy on the body of a man found in the Susquehanna River in Wilkes-Barre revealed the cause of death as drowning, according to the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office.
The man’s identity was not yet known by investigators on Thursday.
According to a news release from Chief Deputy Coroner Joe Jacobs, emergency responders were dispatched at about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday when a body was found in the river just north of the Veterans Memorial Bridge.
The body was found in two feet of water and removed by the coroner’s office, Wilkes-Barre police and fire department and state police at about 4 p.m.
An autopsy by forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross revealed the man died from drowning. The manner of death is pending an investigation by city police.
City police Chief Joseph Coffay stated city detectives are working with Plains Township police.
Coffay said the body, a white male, had no clothes or identification and investigators believe the body had been in the river since Sunday.
“We believe Sunday since it might have been related to a call in Plains Township,” Coffay stated.