Phone found on body discovered in Assiniboine River belonged to missing man, search group says

Manitoba RCMP say an autopsy will be conducted after a body was found Thursday in the Assiniboine River in Brandon.

The autopsy will confirm the identity of the person, police said Friday, but the discovery comes after multiple search and rescue agencies, along with volunteers, spent the last few weeks searching the Assiniboine River and surrounding area for Jordan Ross.

A Facebook group dedicated to the search for Ross said in a Friday morning Facebook post that the search group had been told by RCMP a phone found with the recovered body belonged to Ross.

The post said confirmation of the person's identity will take time, but that "the search for Jordan is over."

"He is home," the post read. "Not how we want, but we can find peace in knowing he's no longer lost out there, and the healing process can begin."

RCMP told CBC the body was found in the river near Dinsdale Park in Brandon around 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Brandon RCMP and the Brandon Police Service officers were called to the scene and recovered the body from the river.

RCMP did not disclose any further details.

Ross, 41, was last seen on the morning of June 17, when he left his home near the Grand Valley Park campground, northwest of Brandon and near the Assiniboine River, to do some work there.

RCMP previously said his vehicle was found parked close to the river.