A body was recovered from the James River in Isle of Wight County Sunday, nearly two months after two boaters went missing while crossing the river during a snowstorm.
The body’s identity has not been confirmed, but a medical examiner has picked it up and will make that determination, according to Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries spokesman Lee Walker.
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission was the first agency to respond to a report of a body in the river Sunday afternoon, Walker said.
The VDGIF responded to the scene shortly after the VMRC arrived.
Englehart and Savage, who are from Charles City County and Henrico County, respectively, went out on the river Jan. 3 in a 16-foot Jon boat to work on a waterfowl blind they had near Grays Creek in Surry County.
The men disappeared late that night as a snowstorm hit eastern Virginia, dropping five to ten inches of snow and creating two-foot waves on the James. The storm was accompanied by below-freezing temperatures.
Savage and Englehart were both reported missing the following afternoon.
During the initial search Jan. 4 and 5, rescue crews found the 16-foot boat washed up on Hog Island, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Corinne Zilnicki, spokeswoman for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Freezing temperatures forced officials to call off the search Jan. 5 after ice formed on the river.
The Virginia State Police and VDGIF resumed the search Jan. 6.
VDGIF conservation police officers have been routinely looking for the men for two months. Other agencies, including the National Park Service, Surry County Sheriff’s Office James City County Police have also been searching.
The U.S. Coast Guard was not involved in Sunday’s recovery of the body, although it was involved in the initial search in January, Petty Officer 3rd Class Corinne Zilnicki said.
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
