Man found dead on barge identified
ROCHESTER, Pa. (AP) – A man found dead on a barge on the Ohio River has been identified. Authorities said he may have died while on the way to Pittsburgh to pick up a Social Security check.
Beaver County Coroner Wayne Tatalovich said Harvey Hicks, 66, of East Liverpool, likely died of hypothermia, but an autopsy was inconclusive. Tatalovich said he was waiting for toxicology tests before ruling on Hicks’ cause of death.
Hicks was found barefoot on the Point Counterpoint II, a barge that serves as a floating home for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, under the Rochester-Monaca Bridge in Beaver County on Wednesday.
He was wearing several layers of clothes, but no socks or shoes and was carrying a sandwich a relative had given to him, authorities said. Relatives told authorities he planned to go to Pittsburgh to pick up a Social Security check.
It was unclear how he ended up on the barge, Tatalovich said.