Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Firefighters responded to a report of a drowning this morning, at Fort Borst Park where police looking for a missing 23-year-old man found the victim floating face down in the Chehalis River along the bank, according to Riverside Fire Authority.
The fire department reports the body was confirmed to be the missing individual who they describe as having an extensive history of autism.
The fire department was on the scene at the Centralia park shortly after 7:30 a.m.
Centralia police reported later the deceased as 26 years old.
Just after 7 o’clock this morning, police were dispatched to a missing person complaint at the the 2000 block of Borst Avenue, according to the Centralia Police Department.
A short time later, an officer located the body of the male in the river, near where it meets with the park’s pond, according to detective Patty Finch.
The department is investigating the details surrounding his death, Finch said.
Exactly who he was with or what he was doing at the park isn’t yet clear, Finch said.
The detective said it was the Centralia man’s mother who reported him missing, but they don’t know if she was with him at the park. Detectives have been trying to locate several people to talk to, she said.
Finch said he is someone she has not met personally, but understands the level of his disorder was such that he was supervised, or should have been supervised, at all times.
His name isn’t being released, but is expected to be released later by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. Police are hoping an autopsy will be performed on Monday or Tuesday.
The 2000 block of Borst Avenue is the stretch that runs behind the Harrison Avenue Safeway, from Interstate 5 to Johnson Road.