The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon in the Monongahela River.
The medical examiner’s office identified the woman as Latasha Jefferson, 36, of Pittsburgh. The medical examiner’s release did not list a cause or manner of the woman’s death.
Pittsburgh police earlier asked for the public’s help in finding Jefferson, who had been reported missing.
Pittsburgh police said Jefferson was last seen in the Oakland neighborhood on Wednesday around noon. They said she was at risk due to a medical condition.
Pittsburgh police, firefighters and EMS had been dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to the river’s shoreline, near Sandcastle Water Park, a public safety spokeswoman said.
Authorities later discovered the body was found in West Homestead, not within the city’s borders, the spokeswoman later said.
Allegheny County Police detectives have taken over the investigation.
The 67-acre Sandcastle Water Park is located in West Homestead, which borders Pittsburgh’s Hays and New Homestead neighborhoods.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.