Northwestern District Attorney spokeswoman Laurie Loisel confirmed the body was that of Franklin County resident Geoffrey Arthur, of Sutherland, who was reported missing on Monday, March 29.
Arthur, who was known as “Randy,” had last been seen by his family on Sunday, March 28, said the Sunderland Police.
Police and firefighters, as well as state police, had been searching for Arthur in the area of Route 47 in Sunderland for the past two months. They had also called on the public to be on the lookout for the missing man.
Loisel said that on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 26, a kayaker found Arthur’s body floating in the Connecticut River in Hadley and called 911.
An official cause of death has not been released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
This incident was the second time a body was discovered in the river within a week. The body of Wasique Hasan, 21, a University of Massachusetts student from Easthampton was discovered by a boater on Friday, May 21, Loisel said.
Hasan had been reported missing by his family on Wednesday, Dec. 30, and his name was then entered into the National Crime Information Center as a missing person. No foul play was suspected in Hasan’s death.
Authorities don’t believe the two deaths are connected in any way.
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