Man finds woman’s body along river in West Virginia

MASON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ/Gray News) - A woman’s body was found Wednesday afternoon along the Kanawha River in Mason County, West Virginia, WSAZ reports.

Dean Priddy made the “shocking” discovery.

“I didn’t expect to see anything like that,” he said.

Priddy lives near the town’s public boat dock and fishes there often.

He says he went there Wednesday afternoon to see how much debris left by the high water would have to be cleared away.

Priddy says he was about 35 yards away from the boat dock when he saw what appeared to be the body of a woman lying on the dock. The mud kept him from going any closer.

“I’d never seen a body like that before,” he said. “Finally I figured out that’s what it’s got to be.”

Priddy called 911 and also a friend who brought boots so he could get through the mud and get a closer look to confirm.

“He walked down through the mud and confirmed it was a body,” Priddy said.

The Mason County Sheriff’s Department and West Virginia State Police responded to the scene.

Priddy believes that the body had come down the river and gotten stuck at the dock because the body was partially covered by water.

“It was disturbing,” he said.

Priddy hopes that it won’t take investigators long to determine who it is and what happened to her. He says his thoughts are with whoever may have been the woman.

“That would mean a lot that they find out who she is and let her family know that they did find her,” he said.

The body has been sent to the medical examiner’s office and investigators are working to identify the woman.

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