Coroner IDs Body Pulled from Mon
Washington PA Observer Reporter
15 June 2012
A body found last week in the Monongahela River near Point Marion
has been identified as that of a 62-year-old man who disappeared
in February while fishing near Star City, W.Va.
Fred McCauley of Morgantown, W.Va, was reported missing after he
went fishing alone at Star City Riverfront Park Feb. 28.
His body was found June 7 by two people fishing in a boat north of
Point Marion.
The body was identified through dental records and by a surgical
procedure McCauley had had done, said Jessie Camilli, Fayette
County deputy coroner. The cause of death was listed as accidental
drowning, she said.
Last Thursday, McCauley's wife, Roberta McCauley, had come to
where recovery operations were taking place at the Route 88 bridge
over Dunkard Creek in Dilliner.
McCauley said her son had heard about a body being found in the
river from a friend in Bobtown and they decided to drive to
Dilliner.
"I thought it had to be him, finally; I kind of had a feeling it
was because it was so close," she said then. Five other bodies had
been found in rivers since her husband's disappearance but were
determined not to be his, she said.
McCauley said her husband had received a new fishing pole from
their son for Christmas. On Feb. 28, it had been a nice day and he
went to try it out.
Fred McCauley didn't return. The new pole was found on the dock
where he had been fishing, Roberta McCauley said. Her husband
couldn't swim.
Though an extensive search was conducted on the river in the
Morgantown area, her husband's body wasn't found. High water
hampered the search, and after a couple of weeks the search ended.
McCauley said her husband had retired only in January from
Blacksville No. 2 Mine. They had been married for 44 years.