No confirmation it is missing South Point man

SOUTH POINT — Late Saturday afternoon Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies and Ceredo Fire Department recovered the body of a man from the Ohio River near South Point.

The body was pulled from the river at approximately 4 p.m. and was within 100 feet of the Ohio side of the river.

Earlier on Saturday rescue crews had begun searching for a South Point man reported missing by his family at approximately 8 a.m. Randale Maynard, 73, who suffers from dementia, had apparently wandered away from his home.

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and fire departments from South Point, Fayette-Burlington, Perry and Chesapeake were involved in the search.

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless could not confirm that the body found in the river was that of Maynard. Any waterway between Ohio and West Virginia comes under the jurisdiction of West Virginia and those authorities will have to release the identification of the body. A Wayne County 911 dispatcher was not able to identify the body by press time.