Death of man found in river ruled suicide

The cause of death for a man found in the Tennessee River on Tuesday is an apparent drowning and suicide, the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled.

Christopher Friberg, 39, of 1507 Union Ave., was found by a kayaker early Tuesday afternoon, facedown in the river. The term "apparent drowning" is used because no one witnessed the death, officials said.

Lt. Tim Carroll, head of the Chattanooga Police Department's major crimes division, said he almost immediately called Marion County officials in case the body was that of one of three men who have been missing since Saturday after a boating accident near Nickajack Dam.

Though Mr. Friberg's body was found upriver from where the boating accident occurred, there had been a chance it could have been one of the boaters, Lt. Carroll said.

"It's highly unlikely but not impossible, especially if a barge dragged the body upriver," he said.

Lt. Carrroll said Mr. Friberg had identification on his body, so police easily verified his identity.

The body was about a mile downriver from the Moccasin Bend firing range on the same side of the river, Lt. Carroll said.

Mr. Friberg was fully clothed and his body was not decomposed, though his hands were shriveled from being in the water, police said. He probably was in the water less than 24 hours, they said, and they did not find a suicide note.

"We didn't see anything obvious on the cause of death," Lt. Carroll said. "There was nothing out of the ordinary except that he was in the river."

Mr. Friberg's father, Charles Friberg, of Chattanooga, declined comment Wednesday morning.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Officer Mike Bailey said search crews in Marion County found a few more pieces of the fishing boat that was pulled into a spewing floodgate Saturday. The three men from Dalton, Ga., have been missing since the Saturday accident. Two men who survived the accident were found safe downstream, officials said.

"I'm guessing we've found over half the boat by now," he said.

Officer Bailey said a larger group will search the waters Friday and Saturday. Officials will close the flood ates on Nickajack Dam for a short time to aid in the search, he said.

"That will give us a short window of opportunity to put a camera down near the dam," he said.

Mr. Friberg had been released from the Hamilton County Jail to Moccasin Bend Mental Institute in May, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office booking reports show. But police said he was not a current patient, according to the institute.

Mr. Friberg was scheduled to appear in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Dec. 3 on a vandalism charge, court records show.