What’s known about the body recovered from the Highland Park Reservoir near Rochester, New York?

On March 19, 2024, a body was recovered from the Highland Park Reservoir near Rochester, New York, prompting a boil water advisory in some parts of the city. As of this report, it was a developing story, but here’s what’s known about who was found and how that person may have died.

According to RochesterFirst.com, a City of Rochester Water Bureau employee spotted the body around 8 a.m., Rochester police said. A scuba team recovered the body, and the drinking water was tested and declared drinkable. The boil advisory was issued out of an “abundance of caution,” according to city officials. The Highland Park Reservoir is one of three reservoirs that supply drinking water to the roughly one million residents in the area.

The deceased was male

Once the body was recovered from the Highland Park Reservoir, it was identified as an adult male, but his name and age were not yet known. The body was examined by the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of death, and police reviewed reservoir security footage to find out how the body got there.

According to 13wham.com, the Highland Park Reservoir is “intentionally difficult” to access, so early on, the biggest mystery was how the person got into the fenced-off area if it was an accident. Meanwhile, there were reports of signs of foul play at the time of this writing, but if that turns out to be the case, security footage would hopefully reveal who brought the body there.

On that topic, Rochester Police Captain Greg Bello said, “As you can see behind me, it’s a 10-foot fence with essentially spikes on top. It’s a challenge to get in there without having a key or without going through the gate, so that’s what we’re looking into.”