Update: Bella Vista man found dead in Beaver Lake

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Benton County deputies on personal water craft and in a boat search Friday for a Bella Vista man who was reported missing near the Arkansas 12 bridge over Beaver Lake in the Prairie Creek area near Rogers.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Benton County deputies on personal water craft and in a boat search Friday for a Bella Vista man who was reported missing near the Arkansas 12 bridge over Beaver Lake in the Prairie Creek area near Rogers.

UPDATE

Edward Holmes’ body, which was found just before 8 a.m. Saturday, will be sent the state crime lab, Sgt. Shannon Jenkins said.

“We do not expect foul play,” she said Saturday. “But that is what the investigation is for: to rule out anything and everything.” It is still an on going investigation by The Benton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division.

The two kayakers who found Holmes’ body about six to eight feet from a private boat dock were not looking for him or related to the search, Jenkins said. The dock, which is off the shoreline Highway 12 East, is located not far from where Holmes’ car was found on the highway near Beaver Lake, Jenkins said. The sheriff’s office did not give an exact location.

10:31 a.m.

The Benton County Sheriff's Office reported Edward Holmes, a 50 year old Bella Vista man who had been missing since Thursday night, was found dead Saturday morning near a private boat dock off the shoreline of Highway 12.

"The body was located in an obstructed area where boats and sonar could not reach," Sgt. Shannon Jenkins, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said.

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Jenkins said two kayakers found Holmes and called 911.

The Sheriff's Office began assisting the Bella Vista Police Department in its search for Holmes Friday after his family reported him missing Thursday night. Officials were able to locate Holmes' vehicle off Highway 12 near Beaver Lake by pinging his cell phone. Officials began a ground search and lake search that lasted into Friday night. Jenkins said in a statement Friday she expected the search to continue Saturday.

NW News on 06/10/2017

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