Man found dead on Monroe County riverbank tried to swim across Mississippi, police say

The Monroe County coroner’s office has confirmed the identity of a man found floating dead in the Mississippi River on Friday.

Police say the man attempted to swim across the river from downtown St. Louis.

On Tuesday, St. Louis Metropolitan Police were dispatched to Bellerive Park on a report that two men were in the Mississippi and appeared to be in distress, one of which disappeared beneath the current and didn’t surface.

On Friday, the body of Caleb M. Moriarity, 36, was spotted by a fisherman near the eastern banks of the Mississippi in a rural part of Monroe County. Police say Moriarity was homeless, though he previously had resided in St. Louis and Indiana.

“Positive identification was made using tattoos from a Facebook page and an acquaintance that observed Moriarity attempting to cross the Mississippi River from the area of Broadway Street in St. Louis city,” said Monroe County Coroner Bob Hill.

Because of the low water levels, deputies needed an off-road utility vehicle to access the riverbank to recover Moriarity’s body floating where the fisherman reported seeing it near Levee and Mitchie Road west of Maeystown.

Investigators believe Moriarity drowned, but an official cause of death won’t be released pending the results of an autopsy performed Sunday and toxicology tests.

According to a release, witnesses called police when they saw two men in the river and in apparent trouble.

“The witness saw one of the makes floating in an inner tube go underwater near a barge and never resurfaced. The second male was able to make it back to shore to speak with officers,” said Monroe County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Justin Biggs.

St. Louis police interviewed the other man, Biggs said. He told police he and Moriarity attempted to swim across the river to Illinois, but the water current took them in opposite directions.

St. Louis city fire department searched the river, but were unable to locate Moriarity, Biggs said.

”This is an unfortunate event that has taken the life of Mr. Moriarity,” Biggs said. “The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department sends our condolences to the Moriarity family.”

According to the release, multiple agencies participated in a weekend investigation of the death. They included the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Unit, Monroe County coroner’s office, Columbia Fire Department, and District 1 Bureau Detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Biggs also extended gratitude to two unidentified citizens who provided assistance by using their UTV’s to transport first responders to and from the river during the recovery.

This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 6:59 PM.