Body found in river Morehouse

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Police have identified a body found in the Cornwallis River August 8 as the missing Aldershot man, Barry Morehouse.

Morehouse, 31, was reported missing by his family August 2 and Kentville Police had reports of him being seen behind the town curling club August 3, Chief Mark Mander said.

Police and Kentville firefighters had done some searching, but Valley Search and Rescue volunteers found a body August 14 in the river, three kilometres west of town. “He was identified through fingerprints,” Mander said. “Cause of death - likely drowning, but we’re still waiting for the autopsy report to come back.”

As far as police are concerned, though, the file is closed. “There’s no foul play suspected,” Mander said.

He credited the work of firefighters and search volunteers for their role in the investigation.

Search and rescue search manager Fred Bond said August 8 the group wished it had been brought in earlier than a call that morning, but volunteers found Morehouse four hours and 59 minutes into their efforts. They set up above Kentville’s Memorial Park and searched the river from behind the Evergreen Nursing Home with their amphibious vehicle. “We set up guards and called Kentville police, and we took one officer in by boat to investigate,” Bond said. “Then we helped bring him out.”

Bond said he knew Morehouse: he’d once canvassed Bond’s door for the liver foundation. He expressed regret and sympathy to Morehouse’s family.

Morehouse wasn’t working, was single and lived at home. Mander said the death is a “sensitive” situation for the family.