Body of local man found in Ohio River
Review Staff Reports
POSTED: November 10, 2009
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Preliminary reports suggest the body of a local man missing since Sunday night was discovered floating in the Ohio River on Monday.
The body of Michael Smith, 43, of the East Liverpool or Wellsville area, was found floating in the water near the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge in Hopewell Township, Beaver County.
Officials with the Beaver County Coroner's Office indicated an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Smith was working on the river when he disappeared at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday night. A body was found at around 11 a.m. Monday.
Officials in Ohioville, Pa., are leading the investigation.
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HOPEWELL TWP. — A body pulled from the Ohio River in Hopewell Township Monday morning was that of an East Liverpool, Ohio, man who likely committed suicide, police said.
Ohio Township Police Chief Norbert Micklos said Michael Smith, a 43-year-old river boat worker, last spoke to relatives on the phone around 10:30 p.m. Sunday while on a boat docked at Neville Island.
Smith, Micklos said, “gave indications that he might take his own life” during that final conversation. Micklos’ department patrols the island, so it assumed control of the investigation Monday.
Co-workers reported Smith missing early Monday, and police as well as boats from the Neville Township fire department, Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers began searching around the island about 6:30 a.m.
Micklos said the search was ending when he got a call that a fisherman had spotted a body floating downstream in Hopewell. Micklos said Smith’s body was taken to a boat dock in Leetsdale, where Beaver County Deputy Coroner Wayne Tatalovich Jr. took custody.
An autopsy showed that Smith drowned, Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi said.
J.D. Prose can be reached online at jprose@timesonline.com.
As soon as we hear the word suicide, we have to back off until an official ruling is made. According to the above story, it says "likely committed suicide".
Our site is about unsolved murder. If the case is determined to be of a suspicious nature and is ruled that way, then you will find it on here. I am sorry for the great loss the Smith Family is having to endure and our thoughts and prayers are with them.
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