The body of a man pulled from the Thames River early Friday evening had a tatoo that appeared identical to that of a Waterford man missing since Wednesday, whom police had been searching for in the river earlier in the day.
A Coast Guard crew pulled the man from the river just off City Pier and took him to Coast Guard Station New London at Fort Trumbull, where city police would retrieve the body. The body had been spotted by a woman on the pier with several fishermen and others. Police cleared everyone off the pier until the Coast Guard crew arrived.
Police at the scene said the man has not yet been identified.
Friday morning, the Connecticut State Police Dive Team searched the river underneath the Gold Star Memorial Bridge for a Waterford man missing since Wednesday. Also earlier Friday, the name of the man, Andrew Dejong, 20, was released by Waterford police.
Dejong has had no contact with his family since Wednesday around 3 a.m., police said. He may have ridden a blue Cannondale mountain bike from his home.
The four-person dive team began searching under the bridge at about 10:30 a.m., using the boat's sonar to try to locate the body.
The State Police Emergency Services Unit and the Coast Guard also assisted the Waterford Police Department in the search.