Police believe man pulled from river matches West Fargo, N.D., report of missing person

FARGO, N.D. – The body of a man pulled from the Red River appears to be that of a man reported missing to West Fargo police on Thursday, Fargo Police Lt. Pat Claus said.

West Fargo police received the missing person report at 10:05 p.m. Thursday. According to the dispatch log, the caller said her brother hadn’t been heard from since Sunday, that he’s been depressed lately and is an alcoholic. She said he stays at the Gladys Ray Shelter in Fargo but hadn’t been there all week.

“Preliminary investigation would indicate that, yes, that call that West Fargo took appears to be linked to the recovered body,” Fargo Police Lt. Pat Claus said today.

An autopsy was scheduled at 10 a.m. today.

Law officers from both sides of the Red River recovered the body Thursday near downtown Fargo-Moorhead. The man’s body was discovered by two canoeists and was pulled out of the river around 5 p.m.

It appeared the body had been in the river for at least a couple of days, Claus said.

There are no active missing-person reports in Fargo, Moorhead or Clay County.

Mike Nowatzki is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

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