East St. Louis man drowned while trying to push boat off sandbar, officials say

Officials have determined the identity of a man whose body was found Thursday afternoon floating in the Mississippi River near Alton.

The body of Scoria C. Johnson, 39, of East St. Louis, was found floating in the river, according to Madison County Coroner Stephen Nonn.

Johnson had been the subject of a river search since Monday evening, when he was boating with friends and disappeared. The group’s boat got stuck on a sandbar, and when Johnson jumped from the boat to free it, the boat drifted away, and he was swept under water, Nonn said in a news release.

Friends tried to rescue Johnson but were not successful. Johnson could not swim and was not wearing a life vest, Nonn said. An autopsy revealed that he most likely drowned, but the coroner was still waiting for results from routine toxicology tests.

His body was recovered by the Alton Fire Department Marine Unit. Funeral arrangements were pending at Serenity Memorial Chapel in Belleville.

This story was originally published September 8, 2017 at 3:28 PM with the headline "East St. Louis man drowned while trying to push boat off sandbar, officials say."