Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said the body of a Peoria man recovered from the Illinois River likely was in the water for at least eight hours.
Harwood said Damien Gulliford, 45, was found Tuesday morning on the river bank under the Bob Michel Bridge. In a social media post Wednesday, the coroner said Gulliford was identified through tattoos and conclusive fingerprinting.
Peoria police and fire crews were called to the 400 block of SW Water Street around 9:15 a.m. for a report of a body found near the shoreline, according to the Peoria Police Department.
The fire department recovered the body from the water, authorities said.
Harwood said an autopsy by the coroner's office determined Gulliford's cause of death as acute drowning, with no evidence of trauma or foul play. The police investigation into how Gulliford entered the water remains active.
