The body of a man who drowned in the Hoquiam River — after he jumped in attempting to elude police — was recovered Friday afternoon. Just after 12:45 p.m. Officers from the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office and Hoquiam Police were advised of a possible sighting of the drowning victim, who disappeared into the river on Sept. 14.

Officers responded and contacted a fisherman at the East Hoquiam boat launch on the East Hoquiam Road. The fisherman had spotted the body and called 911. The body was located a short distance south of the boat launch and pulled ashore by a deputy sheriff and Hoquiam officer on the scene.

The Grays Harbor County coroner responded to the scene and identified the drowning victim. The body was released to thecoroner. The victim’s family was notified by the Hoquiam Police Department about the recovery.

On Sept. 23, Coroner Lane Youmans had released the name of the man believed to have drowned when he attempted to elude local law enforcement by swimming across the Hoquiam River on Sept. 14.

Youmans said Hoquiam Police identified the man as 35-year-old Brooke Sandback of Hoquiam. An officer was trying to arrest him on a felony warrant the day he jumped in the river.

Sandback was witnessed by several officers struggling as he swam across the river wearing a heavy coat and backpack. He slipped under the surface midway.

A search diver believes he came across the body on the river bottom a few days later, but was unable to recover it in the strong currents.A return to the area later was no more successful and the search was suspended.