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Body of Cleveland man who drowned in Ocoee River has been identified

Staff photo by Mark Pace/Chattanooga Times Free Press — Marty Dunn, left, a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office special operations detective, prepares a drone to help in the search of a missing Cleveland man on the Ocoee River Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Polk County deputies Casey Hickman and Manuel Patterson, from left, also assist. Staff photo by Mark Pace/Chattanooga Times Free Press — Marty Dunn, left, a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office special operations detective, prepares a drone to help in the search of a missing Cleveland man on the Ocoee River Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Polk County deputies Casey Hickman and Manuel Patterson, from left, also assist.

By Ben Benton, Mark Pace May 28, 2019 3 min read

UPDATE: The 26-year-old Cleveland man who drowned in the Ocoee River near the whitewater center has been identified as Rondez J. Mee, according to Polk County Sheriff Steve Ross.

Mee was walking along the river Monday evening and slipped in at approximately 7 p.m., according to Ross. His friends tried to rescue him but were unable to get him out of the water.

Rescuers found his body at about 4 p.m. Tuesday approximately 250 yards from where he fell in the river.

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The body of a 26-year-old Cleveland man who went missing after falling in the Ocoee River in Polk County, Tennessee, was found Tuesday. He was about 150 yards downstream from where he fell in, authorities said.