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.