FORT WAYNE — Sheriff’s deputies have found the body of a man on grassy land near Eagle Marsh where police and search dogs had been searching for a missing man Thursday, Jan. 26.

The Allen County Sheriff’s Department confirmed just before 10 a.m. Friday that a man’s body was found on Republic Services-owned land adjacent to Eagle Marsh off Engle Road. The department did not identify the man and it’s not clear how he died.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, Fort Wayne Police and Indiana State Police, along with a search-and-rescue dog and a search helicopter, began searching grasslands just off Engle Road after a red Chevrolet S-10 was found abandoned on the shoulder of the road. The search was suspended for the night just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

Matt Smith, who described himself as a friend, identified the missing man as Johnny Hall, an outdoorsman who hunts, fishes and traps. Police did not confirmed that identity, though Fort Wayne Police spokeswoman Bridget Glaser said Thursday that the man has animal traps set in the area and that he could have stopped to check them before he went missing.

The search began when the man didn’t show up to work early Thursday, Glaser said.

Glaser said they do not suspect foul play was involved in the disappearance of the man.

After the search was suspended Thursday evening, family and friends of Hall planned to organize a search party of their own at Eagle Marsh Friday morning. The discovery of the body by police came before that search party kicked off.

Source: WANE