According to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, a body that was recovered from a retention pond Tuesday, Aug. 7 near Wildwood Drive in St. Augustine has been confirmed to be that of 20-year-old Arthur Charles Wagner III, who went missing this past Saturday.
The body's discovery came a day after the Sheriff’s Office announced that Wagner was “missing and endangered,” stating that he had recently made threats of self-harm to family members and was last seen on a yellow dirt bike in the area of Wildwood Drive.
The body was discovered at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning by a deputy who had been stationed in the area overnight, the Sheriff’s Office reported that day via Twitter. While searching for Wagner Monday evening, the SJSO Aviation Unit reportedly noticed a petroleum-based film on the surface of the pond, and further investigation led to the discovery of motorcycle tracks at the pond’s edge.
Following the recovery of the body, divers were also able to locate and recover a yellow motorcycle from the pond.
On Wednesday, the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the body was in fact Wagner’s. The cause of death has been ruled a drowning.
The original version of this story stated that the body was merely believed to be Wagner's. The story has since been updated to reflect the Medical Examiner's confirmation.
