Body recovered at Sterling’s Oppold Marina; no word on whether it might be missing Ogle County man

Ogle County Coroner Lou Finch stands by an empty gurney as he waits for the body to be brought to the shore at Oppold Marina.

A body was removed from the Rock River on the east side of Oppold Marina shortly before 7 p.m. today, Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker and eyewitnesses confirmed.

Lee and Whiteside County deputies were on scene from about 4:30 p.m.; Lee and Ogle County coroners also responded.

The body actually was recovered in Lee County, Booker said, so Coroner Jesse Partington and that sheriff’s department will be taking the lead in the investigation.

No further information was available tonight. Sheriff John Simonton did not immediately respond to requests for comment; Partington said the investigation is pending and he will know more at the beginning of the week.

Two Ogle County men are missing and presumed to be in the Rock River: Brandon Cuddy’s badly damaged car was found on a riverbank in rural Byron, the 27-year-old went missing Dec. 26; and Kent “Bud” Dearborn Jr., 33, of Polo, has been missing more than a year after his fishing boat capsized near the Oregon dam on Nov. 20, 2019.

Kathleen Schultz

Kathleen A. Schultz

Kathleen Schultz is a Sterling native with 40 years of reporting and editing experience in Arizona, California, Montana and Illinois.