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Body found on beach believed to be missing man

Posted at 7:59 PM, Apr 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-22 20:00:43-04

PENTWATER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Police believe the body of a man missing since Feb. was found on the Lake Michigan shoreline Saturday morning.

Ryan Walsworth, 50, was reported missing by family on Feb. 13. Authorities found Walsworth’s truck a few days later.

Workers at a construction site near the Pentwater Pier reported seeing the body on the beach Saturday morning and alerted Oceana County deputies.

The body was partially covered in sand, according to a release from the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.

“We are very confident that these are the remains of Mr. Ryan Walsworth,” Sheriff Craig Mast said the news release. “We ask that the public keep the family in their prayers.”

Walsworth’s body was found approximately three miles south of where his truck was located in the days after he was reported missing, according to investigators.

In the days immediately after Walsworth went missing a U.S Coast Guard helicopter with thermal imaging equipment searched the shoreline and dunes, along with family and friends on the ground. A volunteer pilot also assisted in the search.

Walsworth had been dealing with depression, authorities said in February. No foul play was suspected.

The body is being taken to Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids for an autopsy.