Body pulled from Monongahela River
The body of a West Virginia boat engineer was pulled from the Monongahela River Wednesday.
State police in Belle Vernon said Jace Edward Sayre, 59, of Chester, who was working aboard a Murray American Transportation vessel, was reported missing by co-workers at 1:19 p.m. Wednesday. It was believed Sayre may have fallen overboard.
State police and Murray employees searched the boat and other areas, while water rescue teams from Luzerne Township Fire Department and Brownsville No. 1 searched the river. Stat MedEvac searched for Sayre from the air.
Although Sayre worked on boats for 40 years, he could not swim, according to family members. A life jacket was located in Sayre’s sleeping quarters on the boat.
At 8:34 p.m., two boys who were fishing in the Monongahela called Fayette County 911 to report they observed what they thought to be a human body in the river.
The body was recovered and identified as Sayre, police said.
Responding were Southwest Regional police, North Belle Vernon firefighters, Rostraver West Newton EMS, Fayette County EMA and the Fayette County deputy coroner.
An autopsy and toxicology tests will be conducted to determine Sayre’s cause of death.
State police do not believe the death was suspicious.