Two young men fishing on the Monongahela River in Belle Vernon, Pa., discovered the body of a missing barge worker Wednesday night.
Local media reported that the youths were fishing under the Speers Bridge at about 9 p.m. Wednesday when they spotted the body of Jace Edward Sayre.
Sayre, a 59-year-old boat engineer for Murray American Transportation Inc., had been reported missing by his coworkers Wednesday afternoon. It was believed he might have fallen into the river, and local law enforcement and Murray American employees searched the area, but could not find him.
Sayre’s family told the local Uniontown Herald-Standard newspaper that although he had worked on boats for 40 years, he could not swim. Police reported that a life jacket was found in Sayre’s sleeping quarters.
Officials will conduct an autopsy and toxicology reports to determine Sayre’s cause of death, but told local media that they did not suspect foul play.
Murray American Transportation is a subsidiary of the St. Clairsville, Ohio-based Murray Energy Corporation.
