Sequatchie County authorities and TBI agents are investigating an apparent homicide after a local man spotted a body Thursday floating in the Sequatchie River.
Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said that authorities arrived near the intersection of Frank Tate and East Valley roads to see the partially submerged body of a man and blood on the riverbank at Pickett's Bridge.
"All signs point to a homicide," Hitchcock said Thursday night. "We're chasing down leads right now."
Hitchcock said investigators molded casts of shoe prints and collected evidence at the scene Thursday afternoon.
"We don't have anybody reported missing," the sheriff said as he waited for Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents to arrive. "He didn't have any identification on him or anything."
Hitchcock said he wasn't sure exactly when the man died, but it likely happened Wednesday. The body appeared to have been in the water since Wednesday afternoon or evening.
The initial investigation indicates the man was from the area but not Sequatchie County, Hitchcock said, but the investigation is ongoing and police can't yet be sure.
A man collecting aluminum cans along East Valley Road called 911 with the grisly discovery at 10:13 a.m. Thursday, according to 911 Director Mike Twitty.
Twitty said the scene is about three miles south of Dunlap.
Hitchcock said anyone who knows of a missing white male, 30 to 50 years old, should call the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office at 423-949-7750.
Staff writer Carey O'Neil contributed to this story.