GLOUCESTER POINT — The body of a man was discovered in the York River Tuesday as personnel continued search efforts for a Richmond man who went into the river from the Gloucester Point Fishing Pier Sunday afternoon.
According to the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 10:11 a.m. on July 29, Camp Peary Police Officers discovered the body of a male floating face-down in the York River.
The male was located about a half a mile from the Gloucester Point Fishing Pier, near the middle of the river between Gloucester and York Counties, approximately 42 hours after Steven Kendall Wright was reported missing from Gloucester Point Beach, officials noted.
Abingdon Fire & Rescue assisted in the recovery of the body from the river.
“We would like to thank our partner law enforcement, fire, and military agencies who assisted in the search and recovery,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the family had been notified of the discovery. The body will be taken to the Tidewater Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Norfolk for positive identification and to determine the cause and manner of death. The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division will continue to work with the Medical Examiner to confirm the decedent’s identity and investigate the circumstances of his death.
According to the sheriff’s office, the Gloucester County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from an individual at the Gloucester Point Beach July 27 at approximately 4:28 p.m. that an individual had not resurfaced after going into the York River.
Gloucester County deputies responded along with partners from the Abingdon Fire & Rescue Squad, the York County Department of Fire & Life Safety, the Virginia Marine Police, the Virginia Conservation Police, the United States Coast Guard and Camp Peary in an attempt to locate the individual, according to the sheriff’s office.
The missing individual was identified as 50-year-old Steven Kendall Wright of Richmond. Wright was described as a black male, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing approximately 220 pounds. He has short black hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing red or green shorts and no shirt.
On Sunday, the sheriff’s office asked anyone with information that may help locate Wright, or anyone who was in the area of the Gloucester Point Beach or Fishing Pier at the time he went missing, to contact Investigator A. Krause with the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 804-693-4139 and reference Case #2025-01052.
