Searchers find body in river believed to be that of missing man
The Associated Press June 21, 2008
HELENA - A body found Friday along the Dearborn River north of here is believed to be that of a man missing since a rafting accident on May 25, the Lewis and Clark County sheriff said.
A search party with dogs found the body at midday Friday beneath a log that apparently was submerged by high water during earlier search efforts, Sheriff Cheryl Liedle said. The body was a mile or so from the place where the rafting accident occurred last month, Liedle said.
Helena resident Lanny O'Leary, 56, survived and was rescued the night of May 25, the body of 48-year-old Melody Alvestad of Tacoma, Wash., was recovered the next day and 44-year-old Jeff Rayman of Helena remained missing.
The Lewis and Clark County coroner did not immediately return a call seeking information after the search ended on Friday.
Searchers had ventured out multiple times to look for Rayman in the time since the accident, which occurred when the river was flowing extraordinarily high and fast.
O'Leary, Alvestad and Rayman were in a raft that flipped as they floated the Dearborn in a party that included people in two other rafts.
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