Body pulled from Missouri River is identified as St. Joseph man; police investigate
A body pulled from the Missouri River near Atchison, Kansas, Sunday was that of a 53-year-old St. Joseph man who had been living at a campsite alongside the river, police said Thursday.
Donald Spradling’s death has been determined to be a drowning, Atchison Police Chief Mike Wilson said in an email.
Atchison police detectives have met with St. Joseph police detectives and are conducting a joint investigation into Spradling’s death, he said.
A jogger running along the riverfront near downtown Atchison spotted Spradling’s body in the river about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and called police. The body was pulled from the river near the Amelia Earhart Bridge, which carries U.S. 59 highway over the Missouri River.
An autopsy was performed and police released photos of tattoos on the body as they worked to identify the man. With the help of 15 tips, police were able to name the man as Spradling.
Spradling, who is originally from south-central Missouri, had been a resident of St. Joseph in the past two years, Wilson said.
Recently, Spradling had been living at a campsite along the Missouri River in St. Joseph. He frequently fished in the river and visited an emergency shelter in St. Joseph.
Spradling was last seen near his campsite last week. A pathologist has ruled the preliminary cause of death as drowning, Wilson said.
Police have located and spoken with his family.
Detectives from both Atchsion and St. Joseph police departments are conducting a joint investigation into his death.
This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Body pulled from Missouri River is identified as St. Joseph man; police investigate."
