Editor’s note: Tara Becker wrote the following report for the Quad-City Times newspaper. When the Editor contacted Morrison Police Chief Brian Melton on Monday afternoon, May 9, 2016, he stated he was returning from Rock Island, IL. He did not determine if the deceased is Charles N. Schoaf of Morrison, IL. “We may not know for certain the identity of the body until the end of the week.” Chief Melton will issue a press statement as soon as information is released. Whiteside County Sheriff Kelly Wilhelmi stated, “Four people have disappeared between the Upper Mississippi River and the Rock River. Only one has been found” prior to today.
Investigators are trying to identify a body that was found Monday[, May 9, 2016,] in the Rock River in Hillsdale, IL.
The Rock Island Sheriff’s Department w[as] called at 11:34 a.m. to the 23000 block of First Avenue North, between Hillsdale and Barstow[, IL].
Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said the body is a male. He was found floating in the middle of the river.
The body appeared to be in the advanced stages of decomposition, he said. Gustafson and authorities are working to identify the body now.
Gustafson said a fisherman found the body, secured it,…brought it to the side of the river, and called 911. [The Coroner] said the body did not appear to have any outward injuries.
No other information was available Monday afternoon.
The case is being investigated by the Coroner’s Office and the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department. Investigators at the scene also were assisted by the Hillsdale and Carbon Cliff-Barstow Fire Departments.