A body was found near the Hugs Landing Boat Ramp in Crystal City on Tuesday, Oct. 14, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
The Herculaneum and Crystal City fire departments got a call at about 11:05 a.m. about a possible body in the water, Herculaneum Fire Chief Kevin Baker said.
“We did locate a deceased person at the 151 mile marker around Hugs Landing in Crystal City,” he said.
Baker said he believes a biologist sampling water from the river called 911 after seeing what he believed was a body near the Illinois side of the river. The Crystal City and Herculaneum fire departments responded with their boats, and firefighters from Jefferson R-7 Fire Protection District were staged downriver in case they were needed, he said.
Sgt. Andy Gadberry, a spokesperson for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said the body was spotted in the river closer to the Illinois side. He said the highway patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control (DDCC) is conducting the investigation.
“We are conducting an investigation now to determine specifics,” Gadberry said.
Sgt. Brad Germann, a DDCC spokesman, said the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office will complete an autopsy, but he did not know when the autopsy was scheduled.
He said this morning that the highway patrol was not releasing information about the victim’s gender or approximate age or about how long the body may have been in the river, which the autopsy will determine.
“There are very few details we can provide at this time,” he said. “It is an active and ongoing investigation. We hope to release more in the next few days.”