Waylon Farless made it to the Tennessee River, but he never made it out.
On Thursday, Chattanooga police located the body of the 36-year-old man who had escaped from the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Facility two days earlier.
Police found his body along the river's shore about one mile downriver from the Moccasin Bend facility, according to Officer Nathan Hartwig, Chattanooga police spokesman.
Police were called to Moccasin Bend about 7 p.m. Tuesday after the facility reported a man had jumped from the roof of one of its buildings, scaled a fence and jumped into the river.
Police called off the river search Wednesday evening.
An investigation is under way into Farless' escape and death, Hartwig said.
Moccasin Bend officials could not be reached late Thursday, but before Farless' body was discovered, Bill Ventress, chief executive officer of Moccasin Bend, said the staff hoped that police would find Farless alive.
"I'm definitely concerned about this individual's safety," Ventress said. "I hope police find him and he's safe."
Rachel Bunn is originally from Ellijay, Ga., and graduated from the University of Georgia with degrees in magazines and history. While at UGA, she wrote for the student magazine UGAzine, served as news editor for the student newspaper, The Red & Black, and spent a semester studying British history at Oxford University in Oxford, England. She has previously worked at The Rockdale Citizen in Conyers, Ga., and The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the ...
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