Four bodies recovered from Oklahoma river await official IDs, police say
OKMULGEE, OKLA. - The bodies of four men were recovered from the Deep Fork River Friday night, as authorities tried to determine if the men were the same ones reported missing on bicycle rides five days earlier.
Identifications of the men recovered from the river have not been made official, according to an update from Police Chief Joe Prentice.
Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29, all of Okmulgee, were reported missing by family members after the men went on bicycle rides Sunday, Oct. 9 and did not return.
"The recovery process has been completed from the river on Sharp Road," Prentice posted on Facebook Friday night about 10:30 p.m. "The process went much faster than I anticipated. Four male bodies were recovered from the river."
The city of Okmulgee, also the capital of the Muscogee Creek Nation, is in Okmulgee County, about 40 miles south of Tulsa.
On Saturday, Prentice reported there was a chance the bodies could be identified early this week.
"We have received no identifications from the medical examiner's office. They continue to work to identify the remains, but I am told it will likely be tomorrow or later. Officers continue to sift through digital evidence already obtained and await phone records from search warrants, while we wait for identification," Prentice posted on Facebook.
"A large part of any investigation is written reports and the investigation into the missing men has been ongoing for almost a week and has been so fluid, officers have had little time to formally document things. We are using this time to begin that process," Prentice stated. "Additional updates will be given at the appropriate time."
Prentice said a passerby reported "suspicious items" in the river southwest of Okmulgee. He said there were parts of what appeared to be multiple human remains visible above the water.
The bodies were taken to the medical examiner's office in Tulsa for autopsies.
Police reported Monday all four men were close friends and were thought to have left Billy Chastain's home on the west side of Okmulgee about 8 p.m. Sunday on bicycles. Two of the men were thought to have cellphones with them, but attempts to call the phones went straight to voicemail, police reported.
In a Facebook post Saturday, Milissia Smith of Okmulgee wrote:
"Our family would like to thank the Okmulgee Police Department the Sheriff Department Investigators and all law enforcement that was involved in the search for my grandsons, Billy Jack and Mark Chastain, and the two other young men. Thank you so very much."
A post by an Okmulgee resident earlier in the week asked area residents to check their deer cams. Michelle Gordon wrote, "Please, there might be footage from Sunday till now. Lets all get involved these babies want their dads and all the loved ones that want answers there just might be something."
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Bodies of four males recovered in Okmulgee, Oklahoma
