Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 7, 1990 TAG: 9007070346
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Joyce Thompson McTeer, 49, had been reported missing shortly after midnight by her husband, Paul, an associate math and statistics professor.
McTeer was last seen about 8:30 p.m. Thursday. She was found late Friday by two fishermen who called police.
Police said they were not sure of the exact cause of McTeer's death. They said it still was under investigation.
Radford Lt. Jackie Roop said it was too early to determine whether McTeer drowned. He would not say whether foul play was suspected.
"We'll just have to wait and see what the medical examiner's report says," Roop said.
McTeer's body was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital and was scheduled to be transferred to Roanoke for an autopsy.
About 30 police and fire and rescue workers in Radford began searching for McTeer at 12:30 a.m. Friday along the banks of the New River behind a parking lot at the university's Dedmon Center, where they found McTeer's car.
At dawn, 10 divers and two rescue boats scoured the area. At 9:30 a.m., a state police helicopter skimmed four miles of the river in search of the body.
Radford police called off their search about 4 p.m.
Ninety minutes later, Montgomery County sheriff's deputies called them and told them the body of an apparent drowning victim had been found in the county.
Roop met deputies on a boat dock at the end of a dirt road off Virginia 735 while waiting for the body to be recovered. He made a preliminary identification with the woman's driver's license.
Roop estimated McTeer's body was 10 to 12 miles from where the search began. He said the river rose 6 feet above its average level between 9 and 11 p.m. Thursday and apparently carried the body farther than authorities had expected.
McTeer was found by Melvin V. Barnett of Prices Fork and his son, Melvin E. Barnett.
It was their first day fishing on the river this year, and they were floating downstream in their aluminum boat when they saw McTeer's body caught on a tree.
They said they continued downstream and stopped at the first house and called police. Then they returned in their boat to McTeer's body to wait for a rescue boat to meet them.
by CNB