Found Deceased IA - Abdullahi "Abdi" Sharif, 18, Des Moines, 17 Jan 2020

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That’s also a reason I’m hesitant to believe the body in the river has anything to do with Abdi. With all the local interest I haven’t seen any suggestion that this might be Abdi. Even the Facebook group that stays very active and just launched another fundraiser for the Private Investigator hasn’t mentioned it.
The body found in the river has been identified. It is a different young man, a 30 year old who was seen entering the water in February. No foul play. Police identify body found in Des Moines River
 
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Decomposition in a wet environment differs from other environments, both in the changes that occur and the RATE at which they occur. Typical decomposition changes proceed more slowly in the water, especially in cooler temperatures and postmortem changes are affected not just by the temperature of the water, but current, obstacles (underwater debris) and structures (piers, bridges) that may interact with the remains prior to discover. Cold water also encourages the formation of adipocere. This is a waxy, soapy substance formed from the fat in the body that partially protects the body against decomposition. Bodies have been retrieved almost completely intact from very cold water after several weeks. Medical examiners are trained in the uniqueness of immersed remains and understand as well that underwater predation may cause external damage to the remains that may mimic an injury. Such findings are normally interpreted with care so the ME review of remains found in water will not be hurried.

The body found in the river has been identified. It is a different young man, a 30 year old who was seen entering the water in February. No foul play. Police identify body found in Des Moines River

I believe this was a different situation...about a month ago. Still waiting for press release regarding the recent discovery.
 
Such sad news...

PRESS UPDATE:

On 02 May 2020, at approximately 3:10 p.m., Des Moines Police Department patrol officers responded to the Prospect Park Des Moines River banks to investigate a report of a body in the river.
Responding officers arrived and observed what appeared to be a body submerged in the river near the north bank.
Des Moines Fire Department water rescue personnel responded to assist, and did recover a body from the water. Additional assistance was provided by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The body has been transported to the Polk County Medical Examiners Office. Cause and manner of death, as well as identification, will be determined following an autopsy.
Additional information will be shared as it becomes available for release. The next scheduled update will be at 2:00 p.m., 04 May 2020.
UPDATE: 2:30 p.m., 04 May 2020
The Polk County Medical Examiners Office has identified the body recovered from the river as 18 year old Des Moines resident Abdullahi “Abdi” Sharif. Sharif was last seen on 17 January 2020 at a local Target store.
There were no indications of traumatic injury observed at autopsy. Cause of death will be determined following complete examination of autopsy findings.

Des Moines Police Department detectives continue their investigation. Additional information will be shared as it becomes available for release.
Sgt. Paul Parizek
 
What is driving me crazy is: why, if the dogs kept going to the water as stated in an earlier post on here regarding one of the searches for Abdi, *why* did the PI or LE not request/insist that area of the river be searched/dragged/sonar brought in etc.? His body could have been recovered months ago. I don’t know what group was responsible for bringing the dogs on those early searches, but obviously there was scent near the water. I don’t understand...and yes, I realize that a body was not visible to the searchers at the time. But wouldn’t it have made sense to have that area of river thoroughly searched?

Or...is the fast-moving current of a river different when there is possibility of a body being searched for?
 
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I’m avoiding the news a lot these days (for my own mental health haha), but just pulled up one of our local news station’s website and saw the headline.

Oh, I’m so sad. I haven’t even read the article, but I felt the need to come here first, to express my feelings with others that feel the same. Off to read the article and the most recent posts. What happened to you Abdi?
 
Although many expected this outcome, I'm surprised. I was really holding out hope that he had run off and was out there alive somewhere. I can't imagine what happened to him. Is it that easy to slip into the Des Moines river during a snowstorm??
 
Devastating news. Love goes out to his family as I’m sure they’re really struggling today.

that being said (and I’m sorry if this was brought up previously) is it possible he committed suicide? Talking about bad news then found in a body of water? MOO but just a thought.

I hope his family can at least take some solace in now having a body to bury. Can’t wait to hear more about this.
 
Devastating news. Love goes out to his family as I’m sure they’re really struggling today.

that being said (and I’m sorry if this was brought up previously) is it possible he committed suicide? Talking about bad news then found in a body of water? MOO but just a thought.

I hope his family can at least take some solace in now having a body to bury. Can’t wait to hear more about this.

Yes, I do wonder what the "bad news" was about. I wonder if anyone knows or if that's a secret he took to the grave. :-( It seems like a terrible way to die, in a half frozen river in the middle of a blustery blizzard. You don't hear about suicides in that environment often. It seems more likely to me to be accidental or something more sinister.
 
Though they say there are no signs of traumatic injury indicating something violent happened, I’m not ready to say this was an accident or suicide yet. I believe we know from the Target camera footage he left “around 5;30” and, from what I remember (someone correct me if I’m wrong), the PI told searchers that the phone pinged near Prospect Park between 5:33 - 5:47.

I think, at the very least, someone had to have taken him there. We talked about the possibility of him taking the bus but that didn’t seem feasible. For one, the bus route timing and the fact that there was a snowstorm makes it almost impossible for him to have enough time to make it to the park on a bus. Two, I believe we found out that all the buses have cameras installed...unless the bus’s camera wasn’t working, I can’t imagine them saying there was no more footage after Target if they had him on a bus camera video.

So, who possibly took him there? And why?
 
I was sad to hear this and confused as MSM was reporting that the body found in the river was identified as Jovanie Serrano. It appears Jovanie as found earlier (reported as both Feb. 28, and April 2) and the MSM article I linked yesterday was simply dated May . Jovanie's death was a suicide. Authorities identify body found in Des Moines River near Pleasant Hill My condolences to the families of both these young men.
 

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