Man recovered from Mon River
LUZERNE TWP. – One of the two men recovery crews have been searching for since their boat overturned on the Monongahela River last week was found Saturday, his body surfacing within view of family members gathered along the riverbank. The body of Trent Stupak, 40, of Washington was found about a half mile north of the Maxwell Locks & Dam at 12:55 p.m., said Luzerne Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ryan Nichols.
Nichols said family members and friends of Stupak and Steve Barry, 36, of Amity, whose body has yet to be found, have kept constant vigil, gathering along the riverbank every day this week, watching as volunteer firefighters and divers searched the murky water.
Family members spotted a body floating in the river Saturday afternoon and alerted firefighters, Nichols said.
“The family saw the body and started yelling for us,” he said.
Nichols said it took emergency crews about five minutes to remove Stupak’s body. The Fayette County Coroner’s office was called, as was state police.
Fayette County Deputy Coroner Marisa Springer pronounced Stupak dead at 1:55 p.m.
She said the suspected cause of death is drowning but said a full autopsy is scheduled for today. Toxicology tests will also be conducted, she said.
Officials have spent the last week combing the river near the locks and dam where the fishing boat Stupak and Barry were on capsized around 6:30 p.m. April 22.
After pulling Stupak’s body from the river, crews spent the rest of the day searching for Barry. Nichols said recovery teams would concentrate on the area of the river from the locks and dam to Brownsville and said there is reason to believe Barry’s body is probably nearby.
“I have a feeling, but you can never tell,” Nichols said.
Crews recovered a child’s lifejacket on the shore near the lock Thursday, two days after discovering a fishing bucket full of live minnows and a fishing net on Tuesday, about a mile from the dam.
Nichols said crews will continue searching for Barry’s body today.
He commended volunteer firefighters and other rescue personnel who have been working overtime in an attempt to locate the bodies.
During the last week, Nichols said, volunteers and family members have shared food and tears. “What’s ours is theirs; what’s theirs is ours,” he said. “They know we’re doing our best.”
Family members of both men declined comment.