Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 8, 1990 TAG: 9007080203
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Short
The body of Joyce Thompson McTeer, 49, was spotted by two fishermen Friday evening more than 10 miles downstream from where police had searched for her.
Dr. David Oxley, deputy chief medical examiner for Western Virginia, said an autopsy performed in Roanoke Saturday showed the woman died of accidental drowning. He said he would not know whether she was intoxicated until laboratory tests are finished in about a week.
McTeer had been reported missing early Friday by her husband, Paul, an associate professor of math and statistics.
Search teams began looking in the New River for McTeer after finding her shoes, stockings and car keys on the river bank near the university's athletic facility.
About 12 divers and a state police helicopter with a pilot and a spotter were involved in the search, which continued until 4 p.m. Friday. The body was found about 90 minutes later by fishermen Melvin V. Barnett of Prices Fork and his son, Melvin E. Barnett, near Whitehorne in Montgomery County. The Barnetts said the woman's body was lodged against a tree.
by CNB