Boone County deputies identify man found dead in Perche Creek

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that a man found dead in Perche Creek last week has been identified.

Sgt. Brian Leer with the sheriff's department said the body of 39-year-old Orson M. Hager was recovered on April 7.

Leer said an investigation into Hager's cause of death is ongoing. He said as of Tuesday afternoon, the official autopsy report from the medical examiner's office had not been released.

Leer said University of Missouri police arrested Hager last month and he was held in the Boone County Jail from March 13-16.

Authorities received a call before noon on April 7 that a body had been seen in the Missouri River. Boone County firefighters and state troopers assisted in deputies in pulling Hager's body from Perche Creek, which empties into the river.

Prosecutors last month charged Hager, of Columbia, with second-degree burglary and stealing a vehicle, watercraft or aircraft.