Body found in Neuse River that of missing trucker

The Highway Patrol says the body pulled from the Neuse River on Saturday is that of a missing truck driver from Elizabethtown.

Sgt. R.C. Haddock told WITN News that the family of Richard White has been told of the discovery.

The 31-year-old White was driving a tractor trailer on U.S. 70 back on December 9th when the big rig went through a concrete barrier on the Neuse River bridge.

Crews searched the river, but the man's body was not found until Saturday.

The cause of death is pending an autopsy.

Crews pulled a body out of the Neuse River Saturday morning in Lenoir County, according to the Lenoir County Sheriff's Office.

The body was recovered around 11 a.m. near the King Street boat access area after duck hunters noticed something in the area a couple hours earlier, Highway Patrol Sgt. R.C. Haddock said.

The body has been taken to the Medical Examiner's Office to be identified.

This discovery comes more than a month after an 18-wheeler ran off a bridge along U.S. 70 and into the Neuse River. Search crews looked along the river, but never found the body of the driver.

The Medical Examiner will be using a dental record comparison to identify the body, Haddock said.