Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources said today (Tuesday), that on Thursday, October 18th at around 3-p.m., a 911 caller advised he located a body in the Mississippi River. The body was recovered from Sand Cut, just west of Jack Oak Road on the Wisconsin side of the river. The body was transported to the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny for an autopsy.

The autopsy confirmed the body is that of 56-year old John Roe, of Burlington, Wisconsin, and the cause of death to be drowning and manner classified as accidental. Searchers had begun to look for Roe on October 6th, after authorities received a report of a boat spinning in circles in the main channel north of the Cassville Ferry Landing.

Firefighters were able to ram the circling boat and pull the safety lanyard to stop the motor. Later, information was received that a 56 year old man from Burlington, Wisconsin was believed to be out boating by himself and went missing. Investigators believe the man likely fell out of the boat and was not wearing a personal floatation device.