Discovery of body triggers speculation
DOVER, Idaho — The discovery of a badly decomposed body in the Pend Oreille River prompted speculation that it may belong to a former New Jersey resident who went missing in November.
The body was found Saturday morning floating near the surface of the river near an old mill, said Bonner County Sheriff’s Detective Lt. John Valdez.
It was discovered floating about 20 yards from the northern bank of the river in 8 to 10 feet of water.
Valdez said a duck hunter found the body, which was not visible from land, while he was in a canoe retrieving ducks.
The body’s condition made it difficult to tell if it is male or female, or the cause of death.
Valdez expects dental records will have to be used in identifying it.
Some speculated the body could be Dan Clune, a 29-year-old computer programmer originally from Matewan, N.J., who was last seen early Nov. 6 at the Long Bridge Grill just outside of Sandpoint, upstream from the site where the body was retrieved.
Clune, who disappeared after telling friends at the lounge he was going to fetch a sweat shirt, is the subject of a Web site – www.finddanny.com – and has been featured on national television after his disappearance.
The family had offered a $10,000 reward for information to help find Clune.
An unidentified family friend who answered the phone at the Manhattan residence of Clune’s sister, Kristen Clune, said the family had been contacted by authorities about Saturday’s discovery, but declined to comment further.
He said the family would be posting a press release on the Web site, possibly early today.
“Right now they are just waiting to talk, no one is saying much,” the man said.
Authorities believe that Clune may have plunged into the Pend Oreille River while walking back to town on the U.S. Highway 95 Long Bridge from the restaurant the morning he went missing.
One of his shoes was recovered on the north side of the river one day after he vanished. The second shoe was found along the shoreline east of the Dover mill site Nov. 18.
Clune relocated a year ago to the area after taking a snowboarding vacation there. Family members have said the Sept. 11 attacks convinced him that New York City had changed.
Still, police cautioned people not to jump to conclusions.
“There’s no way to tell,” Valdez said. “Whoever the person is has been in the water too long.”
In addition to Clune, Valdez said there are a half-dozen active missing persons cases in Bonner County, some of which date back to the 1960s. The body was turned over to the county coroner and will be taken to Spokane for examination by a forensic pathologist, Valdez said.
He hopes the identity will be established early this week.