JEFFERSON CITY - The search for a the occupant of a car spotted in the Missouri River ended Monday with the recovery of a body.
Though the Jefferson City Police Department declined to identify the victim, a Missouri Highway Patrol drowning report named him as Lloyd Randle, 18, of Jefferson City.
"Our condolences to the family members of the victim," Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said Tuesday.
Jefferson City Police Communications received a report of a vehicle in the river at the Noren River Access in North Jefferson City at about 9:30 p.m. Friday. The Highway Patrol reported a witness saw the 2007 Dodge Caliber drive into the river.
The Jefferson City police and fire departments and the Missouri Highway Patrol initially responded, beginning a water search for the vehicle - and, later, its occupant. The search was suspended overnight but resumed Saturday morning, and the vehicle was recovered by a Highway Patrol dive team about 930 feet below the Noren Conservation Ramp, about 70 feet from the shore.
Other area agencies also responded.
"We joined the search - in conjunction with the Osage County sheriff - at 6:30 on Sunday morning and spent the day searching," Chism said. "The search resumed at 9:30 on Monday morning."
Monday, members of the Callaway County Sheriff's Office, the Osage County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri Highway Patrol were conducting a surface search of the Missouri River around Jefferson City. CCSO Lt. Matthew Palmer and Osage County Sheriff Michael Bonham, sharing an OCSO boat, spotted the body at about 12:55 p.m. on the Callaway County side of the river.
The body was recovered thanks to Capital Sand allowing access to the shoreline, the JCPD said. Randle was taken to the Boone-Callaway County Medical Examiner's office, Chism said.
The JCPD has confirmed Randle was the vehicle's sole occupant. The man's family has been notified, according to the JCPD.
JCPD spokesman Lt. David Williams said further information - such as the cause of death or whether the case is being investigated as a potential crime - is not available for release at this time.
"You could say that the investigation is ongoing," he said Tuesday.