Man’s body recovered from Great Miami River in Miami Twp. ID’d

The cause and manner of death for a man whose body was recovered in June from the Great Miami River in Miami Twp. is undetermined.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in July asked for the public’s help to identify the man, who in August was identified as 46-year-old Vernon W. Seidler of Huber Heights.

Seidler, who went by “Bill,” was reported missing March 15 to the Huber Heights Police Division after family members and his girlfriend confirmed he had not been seen nor heard from since Feb. 23, police reported in a social media post asking for the public’s help to find him.

Five Rivers MetroParks rangers responded to the river around 9:20 a.m. June 30 after kayakers found Seidler’s body in some tree limbs and debris in the water near Dayton Cincinnati Pike and Shephard Road.

Chief of Public Safety Mark Hess said there was significant decomposition, so crews could not immediately identify the gender or approximate age.

Aiden Clark, a middle school student from Miami Twp., was on a kayak trip with Taiters Kayak Solutions to fish on the Great Miami River.

He had been fishing for 20 to 30 minutes when he said his lure got caught.

When he retrieved his lure from an overhang, he saw a human femur.

Clark said his friend also checked it out and they immediately called 911 to report what they found.