photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Emergency responders prepare to remove a body bag from the water on the Kansas River Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has identified the individual found dead in the Kansas River last week.

On Friday, George Diepenbrock, a spokesperson with the Sheriff’s Office, said the office had identified Melinda Sue McCluskey, 57, as the person found deceased in the river on Dec. 21. Diepenbrock said that McCluskey’s last known address was in rural Edgerton, and detectives worked with the coroner’s office to confirm a positive identification and notified her family members on Friday.

Diepenbrock said McCluskey’s family members had reported her as missing to law enforcement in Douglas County on Dec. 3, and at this time there is no indication of foul play. The results of a coroner’s report are pending.

As the Journal-World reported, two fishermen — father and son David and Dalton Crim — discovered McCluskey’s body in the Kansas River near downtown Lawrence early last Thursday afternoon and called 911. Law enforcement then convened on the levee north of the river near Walnut Park, and the body was eventually pulled from the water in a body bag around 4 p.m.