Body found in river identified as that of missing Pittsburgh man
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A body pulled from the Ohio River was identified Saturday as that of a Pittsburgh man thought to have died at the hands of his friends over missing money, coroners said. When divers recovered the body of 19-year-old Andrew Jones from the 48-degree river, his hands and legs were bound with tape and his body chained to a 50-pound barbell, said Allegheny County Deputy Coroner George Adamson.
The cause of death was asphyxiation, and there was also evidence of trauma, Adamson said.
For three weeks, authorities had combed the river along the West Virginia-Ohio border for Jones’ body. A witness told police one of three men charged in the disappearance tied a 50-pound weight to the body with chains and dumped it there March 22.
The decomposed body was pulled out of the river Friday and brought to Pittsburgh the same day. The body was to be released to family members for funeral services at Brandt Funeral Home in Pittsburgh and burial in Allegheny Cemetery.
Jones’ mother, Paula Baumann, has said that finding her son’s body will help bring closure.
Former Duquesne University football player Craig Elias, 22, another former Duquesne player, Jared Lischner, 20, and their friend Jared Henkel, 20, have been charged in Jones’ disappearance and murder.
Lischner’s attorney, Pat Thomassey, said finding a corpse will have no effect on the case.
“It’s the same case,” Thomassey said. “They don’t have to have a body to prosecute the case.”
Police said Jones’ friend Anthony Brownlee told them he and Jones were beaten and questioned about $5,000 missing from a safe on a day they went to an empty apartment to meet Henkel. Brownlee said he was released after about six hours with a promise to get his captors $3,000.
Henkel’s brother, Matthew, told police by the time he arrived at the apartment, Jones was already dead, with his face blue and his head covered with a clear plastic bag.