Missing Smithville teen’s body found
Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 24, 2009
The body of a Smithville teenager has been recovered from the Buttahatchie River in Monroe County.
County Coroner Alan Gurley says the body of 14-year-old Taylor Smith was found Friday about a half mile south of where he was last seen May 15 while swimming with friends.
Gurley says an autopsy will be conducted.
Sheriff’s Department officials say Smith’s friends told them Smith was floating down the river when he went under water near the Cockerham Bridge in south Monroe County and never surfaced.
A volunteer diver with the Itawamba County Dive Team died Wednesday while searching for the body. Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley says 44-year-old David Sheffield, of Tupelo, was in the water for an hour or two when he surfaced, unable to breathe.