DRESDEN — Authorities have confirmed the identity of the body discovered in the Muskingum River near Dresden as that of the teen missing from Knox County.
Muskingum County coroner Charles Feicht confirmed the identity of 15-year-old Darnal Narayan on Thursday after DNA testing.
Narayan, of Columbus, was with a group of four swimming and wading in the Kokosing River when he went missing near Honey Run Park in eastern Knox County on June 11.
According a counselor at the time of his disappearance, Narayan was with the group in the water and became separated from the others near the falls where the river narrows.
After a call to 911, state and local rescue services searched the water and surrounding areas for the missing boy for three days before calling off the operations due to inclement weather and unsafe water conditions.
In June 18, a woman walking along Gene Cox Memorial Drive in Dresden spotted a body floating in the Muskingum River and called 911. The location of the body was more than 40 miles from Honey Run Park in Knox County where Narayan was last seen.
Authorities used DNA taken from both the body and from Narayan’s parents were used to make a positive identification.
