Authorities found the body of a young male, identified by officials at the scene to be in his 20s, in a creek off U.S. Route 50 near Dow Lake. Authorities could not determine as of press time whether foul play was a factor.
Capt. Bryan Cooper, of the sheriff’s office, confirmed to The Post that the body was not Sam Wiater, the Athens man who was reported missing nearly a month ago.
Athens County Sheriff’s Deputies Jason Kline and Jimmy Childs were first on the scene shortly after 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We basically had someone call us with information that they found some property along the bank and some of the deputies came out and happened to see some property laying around that belonged to a subject,” Athens County Interim Replacement Sheriff Rodney Smith said. “As they continued to look, they found the body in the water.”
The property was a book bag that might have belonged to the subject, Smith said, adding the body and book bag were stopped by a tree that had fallen into the creek. The sheriff’s office used a diving team to remove the body — which was completely submerged — from the water.
At the scene, Smith said he had no reason to believe the body is that of Sam Wiater, who has been missing for about a month. He also said he didn’t believe it was one of the two Waterloo Township residents — Jonathon Ash, 13, or Bailey Bartlett, 16 — who were last seen Tuesday evening.
The creek where the body was found connects to the Hocking River, where Wiater was believed to be heading the night of his disappearance.
“There is no evidence that would say it is Sam Wiater,” Smith said.
He added there was no identification on the body, but would not confirm if any identification was within the backpack. Ohio University Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones said she had no knowledge of the body found in the water. She could not confirm whether the male was an OU student.
Trina Wiater, Sam’s mother, told The Post on Thursday evening that a friend told her about the body after reading a media report online. She said she called the Sheriff’s Office, and someone confirmed to her that the body was not her son, but another male named Sam. She wrote a similar note on a Facebook group page.
The body is being sent to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy, Smith said.
Firefighters from the Richland Fire Department, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office, Athens County Coroner’s Office and Strouds Run State Park Rangers all responded to the scene.
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