UPDATED: Police identify man pulled from river as Fargo man
FARGO - Police here say the body of a man recovered from the Red River on Thursday has been identified as 37-year-old Brian Patrick Habiger of Fargo.
Habiger was reported missing to the West Fargo Police Department by concerned family members Thursday evening, according to a news release from Fargo Police Sgt. Joe Anderson.
An autopsy completed by the state medical examiner's office in Bismarck determined the preliminary cause of death to be drowning, the release stated.
A full autopsy report to include toxicology won't be available for several weeks. The investigation doesn't indicate foul play, the release stated.
West Fargo Police received the missing person report at 10:05 p.m. Thursday. According to the dispatch log, the caller said her brother hadn't been heard from since Sunday, and that he's been depressed lately and is an alcoholic. She said he stays at the Gladys Ray Shelter in Fargo but hadn't been there all week.
Law officers from both sides of the Red River recovered the body Thursday near downtown Fargo-Moorhead. The man's body was discovered by two canoeists and was pulled out of the river around 5 p.m. near the railroad bridge along Fargo's Fifth Avenue North.
