ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 3, 1996 TAG: 9606030123
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
A couple rafting down the Roanoke River on Sunday evening found the body of a 66-year-old Roanoke man who was reported missing almost two weeks ago.
Clarence R. Morgan had last been seen getting on a Valley Metro bus across from his Patterson Avenue Southwest home at 8 a.m. May22.
The canoeists noticed the man lying face down on the river bank under the U.S. 11/460 bridge near the Montgomery-Roanoke County line about 7:20 p.m.
Individuals, including Morgan's minister, identified his body Sunday night.
Morgan had not been dead long - probably only since Friday or Saturday - and his whereabouts up to that time is not known, Sgt. William Wiatt of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said. An autopsy is scheduled for this morning.
There were no outward signs of foul play, police said.
It's possible Morgan had been staying under the bridge, though no food or debris was found near the body, Wiatt said.
A couple Morgan had been staying with, Freddy and Lena Wells, searched the neighborhood when he didn't come home Wednesday, then called police. Morgan, a Korean War veteran, was the only tenant at the couple's community care house.
When he left that morning, Morgan was not wearing his dentures and had only $10. The couple said he was mentally ill and in need of medication. Without the medicine, he could become disoriented, they said.
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB