A body discovered on Bud Price Road in Lowndes County has been identified. According to Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant, Robert Paul Martindale, 55, of Tishomingo County, was found dead when he was pulled from a boat dock along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Saturday afternoon. Merchant said the cause of death was freshwater drowning.
“Mr. Martindale was from the Iuka area of Tishomingo County,” Merchant said. “A missing person’s (report) was filed by his family with the Tishomingo County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday, Jan. 11. We were able to properly identify his body Tuesday evening.”
Martindale had been dead for about 2 1/2 weeks, according to the decomposition of the body, Merchant said.
A vehicle belonging to Martindale was seen in the Bigbee Loop area near Ruben’s Fish House as early as Dec. 23, said Merchant. A report of the “suspicious vehicle” was filed with the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department Jan. 8, three days before the missing-person report was filed in Tishomingo County. Martindale’s body was found approximately four miles from where his vehicle was seen.
A homeowner found the body lodged in a boat landing Saturday and reported it to authorities. The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, District 3 Volunteer Fire Department and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle responded to the call.
Merchant said the investigation is ongoing and is being conducted by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. A call made to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department was not returned Tuesday evening.
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