CENTRALIA, IL — Centralia police are confirming the discovery of a deceased man Sunday morning in a retention pond behind the Best Western Motel on the city’s west side.
According to Centralia Police Chief Greg Dodson, around 10 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the motel on a report of a missing/endangered person. Family members of the man had called the police and advised that they had not had any contact with a subject who was staying at the hotel since Friday evening. The family told police that the man had been experiencing mental health issues, and they were worried for his safety and went to the motel Sunday morning to try and locate him. The man’s family spoke with motel management and staff trying to determine the last time he had been present at the facility. Staff was able to pull up video surveillance footage showing the man walking toward a drainage pond located just north of the hotel late Friday night early Saturday morning. At that point the family made contact with the Centralia Police Department and officers responded to the scene.
A jacket belonging to the man was found in the pond and the Centralia Fire Department was called to the scene with a boat. After a brief 45 minute search, the man’s body was located beneath the water in the pond. Family members positively identified the remains as the missing man. Investigators from the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department and the Clinton County Coroner responded to the scene as the pond is located approximately 150 feet outside city limits.
Dodson says that at this time foul play is not suspected but a full autopsy will be scheduled at a yet to be determined date and all further information relating to the investigation will be provided by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities in Salem are confirming the discovery of a body Sunday afternoon near the Industrial Park. According to Salem Police Chief Sean Reynolds, people looking at property behind Howell Paving noticed an odor that they first believed was possibly a dead animal.
As they continued walking, however, they discovered a human body in a creek that flows behind the Industrial Park and under U.S. Highway 50. Law enforcement was contacted just before 2 p.m. and confirmed the situation before contacting the Marion County Coroner’s Office. The Salem Fire Protection District responded to the scene to help remove the body from the creek and to place it in the coroner’s possession pending investigation.
He says no identification has been made at this time but an autopsy is scheduled for today (Monday).