Chattanooga police and fire department officials at a site off Shallowford Road prepare for emergency response crews to send a boat upstream to retrieve a man’s body found in South Chickamauga Creek.A man found dead in South Chickamauga Creek with weights in his backpack was laid off from McKee Foods in July, said officials of the company that makes Little Debbie snacks.
Two people found Todd Staats’ body Aug. 21 while fishing from a canoe. Casting for bream and other fish, they saw the orange on his sneaker soles sticking out of the water.
His name was a mystery until police released it Thursday. Police said the body was unrecognizable because of decomposition. It was dressed in blue jean shorts and a camouflage ball cap with the name of the University of Tennessee of Chattanooga Mocs on the side.
When the body was found, Chattanooga police spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary said investigators would try to get fingerprints and would comb through missing persons’ reports, check homeless camps and put out descriptions in the media.
Police still haven’t said how Staats, 48, wound up in the water with weights strapped to his body and in a drawstring bag on his back. His death was called suspicious, and police said they’re still investigating.