BU Rowers Find Body in River

A team of rowers from a local college discovered a dead body in the Charles River last night, according to Boston University (BU) Police Department Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire.

The body, an unidentified white male, was discovered near the BU boathouse and the Hyatt Regency at about 7:30 p.m., St. Hilaire said.

As of last night, reports conflicted on which crew team discovered the body.

The Associated Press reported last night that BU rowers found the body, while the MIT Tech is reporting today that a boat of Northeastern rowers discovered the corpse.

St. Hilaire said officials assumed that the BU team had discovered the body because the rowers returned to the BU boathouse, but he said he did not know which team found the corpse in the river.

Seth Horowitz, a spokesperson for the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office, said that an autopsy is scheduled for today.

“There are no obvious signs of foul play at this point,” Horowitz said.

Harvard heavyweight crew captain Michael J. Skey ’03 wrote in an e-mail yesterday that he was unaware that local rowers had discovered a corpse.

Mass. State Police are handling the investigation, Horowitz said.

Yesterday was not the first time in recent years a local crew team has discovered a body in the Charles River.

In 1999, Harvard’s freshman lightweight crew team discovered a body during practice.