A body found Saturday at Lake Norris has been positively identified as Robert Hargrove, a man who had been missing since Sept. 29.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said in a text message Wednesday that Hargrove’s family provided several photos of his tattoos, which Merchant used to identify the body.
Merchant determined the cause of death as accidental drowning, and Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry confirmed to The Dispatch no foul play is suspected.
Hargrove, 42, had been missing since his car was found wrecked and abandoned at the intersection of 15th Street South and Pickensville Road.
A Columbus Housing Authority maintenance worker found the partially submerged body under some overhanging trees Saturday at the lake, walking distance from where authorities found Hargrove’s vehicle. The body was in poor condition.
A Columbus Police Department press release issued over the weekend said water levels had receded since the wreck. Merchant, in his Wednesday text, said authorities had attempted several times to locate the body, including an air search with a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office drone.
Hargrove had not sustained any trauma from the car crash and did not appear to have been assaulted, Merchant said. He told The Dispatch that Hargrove could not swim.
There will be no autopsy.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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