Police identify body found in Ohio River

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2006

A body found in the Ohio River on Tuesday has been positively identified as a Huntington, W.Va. resident reported missing last month.

The body, found floating near the Simeon Willis Memorial Bridge before being towed to the Ashland, Ky., Boat Dock, was named as Charles Porter, 36. The Huntington resident was reported missing by family members on Sunday to the Huntington Police Department. The HPD and Ashland Police Department have been handling the investigation jointly.

Currently, an autopsy is being conducted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort, Ky.

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Lt. Rocky Johnson of the Huntington Police Department said that while they haven’t ruled out murder, it doesn’t seem likely at this time.

“At this time, there’s no indication of foul play, but we’re still waiting on the autopsy report from Frankfurt,” Johnson said.

The body was originally spotted Tuesday afternoon by employees of the North Star Painting Co. who were working on the bridge. HPD and APD will continue the investigation, but no further details are available at this time.