IPD closes case on drown man

Published 12:24 pm Sunday, July 22, 2018

No foul play found in autopsy

The Ironton Police Department has closed the case of an Ironton man whose body was found in the Ohio River earlier this year.

Chadley “Chad” Marshal was reported missing on May 20 after going out to see a band play. He left his friends and his family was unable to locate him.

On March 24, the Greenup County Sheriff’s Office called the Ironton Police Department after the body of a man matching Marshal’s description was found at the Greenup Locks and Dam in Lloyd, Kentucky.

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The body was identified as Marshal by family and was sent to the Montgomery County coroner for autopsy.

IPD Detective Joe Ross got the results of the autopsy back.

“At this point, we do not suspect any foul play,” he said. “We have closed the case with the preliminary autopsy report indicating no foul play being involved.”

Ross said it was a tough case to call.

“We don’t know if it was an accidental drowning or an intentional drowning. And we will never know,” he said. “From our investigation, there was no foul play intended on the part of him ending up in the river.”

Marshal was last seen at Boomer’s on Third Street in Ironton around 2 a.m. on May 19.

According to his mother, Kate Marshal, he had been despondent after a separation from his wife and despite having completed a detox program recently, he had been drinking with a friend before deciding to go out and see a band perform.

At the end of the night, he handed off his phone to a friend and walked away. Family and friends had searched for him and started a Facebook page to try to locate him.