Man's body found in the Sandy River

Multnomah County medical examiner has not yet confirmed victim’s identity

By Jim Hart

The Sandy Post, Dec 22, 2009

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A fisherman in a boat floating down the Sandy River discovered a man’s body lodged against the north-end beach of Indian John Island, about two miles upriver from Oxbow Park.

Officials are not able to confirm the identity of the drowning victim, but said there was no evidence of foul play, according to Multnomah County Sheriff’s Lt. Mary Lindstrand.

The only person still missing in the area is 55-year-old Yevhen Savchenko, who fell into the river with his son on Oct. 31. His 16-year-old son was able to scramble to shore. That incident happened near the entrance to Cedar Creek, not far from Sandy.

In that incident, a three-day, 13-mile river search included 35 searchers and dogs, a LifeFlight helicopter and a Coast Guard helicopter as well as another canine team and three boats, including units from Sandy and Clackamas fire departments and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. But they all came up empty-handed.

By press time Tuesday, the medical examiner had not yet confirmed the identity of the victim.

The discovery at midday last Saturday was relayed to the county dispatch center, which asked for a more precise description of the remote location.

Using the fisherman’s cell phone signal, dispatch was able to pinpoint the location, but asked the fisherman to cross the river and climb up to the nearest home and get the address.

As soon as the address was known, Sheriff’s river patrol deputies were able to drive to the location and gain access to the river, where they used the fisherman’s boat to bring the body to the shore and transport it to the medical examiner.

Even though the identity could not be confirmed, Lindstrand said the investigation includes the possibility that the body is Savchenko.

“We have tentative identification at this time, but not positive,” Lindstrand said, “and I can’t release anything until I have positive identification.”