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Body found in river identified as Tyree

Chris Buckley
| Wednesday, February 26, 2003 5:00 a.m.
Although numb with grief, Lisa Martin said the discovery of her son's body - two months after his plunge into the Monongahela River - brought some closure to a nightmarish chapter in her life. "We'll know where he is," Martin said. "He'll be in a cemetery, not in the river." A worker at Consolidated Coal discovered Marcus Tyree's body stuck between two barges about 1 a.m. Monday, according to Jefferson Borough Police Chief John L. Maple. The body was taken to the Allegheny County Coroner's office, Maple said. The body subsequently was identified as Tyree's, through shoes and a tattoo on his stomach, Martin said. In the early morning hours of Dec. 20, Tyree threatened to jump from the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge as family and friends tried to reason with him. He fell onto a concrete pillar and eventually into the river. Tyree attempted to tread water while rescue teams were called out. He floated toward the Donora-Monessen Bridge, but crews were unable to rescue him Since then, Martin and her family have had to live with the uncertainty, made worse by purported rumors, she said. "I was in the BP when I heard one woman tell another 'I heard they found him,'" said Martin, recalling an incident that occurred weeks ago. "I said, 'I'm his mother and, no, they did not find his body yet.'" She said the statement falsely lifted her hopes. News of the discovery came 5 a.m. Monday when Martin received a telephone call from Tyree's fiancee. Martin went to Donora, where Police Chief Jim Brice made several calls to assist her. With her 13-year-old son at her side, Martin went to the Allegheny County Coroner's Office for closure. Her younger son was very shaken, Martin said. She said the boy looked up to Tyree. "He's all I have now," Martin said of her youthful son. When they returned home, they arrived to a house filled with friends and family, all there to support them. Martin thanked area fire companies for their help in the search for Tyree. A volunteer with the Lock 4 Fire Co., in North Charleroi, Tyree will have a firefighter's funeral Friday. Firefighters from various fire companies, wearing dress uniforms, will be part of a funeral procession to Mon Valley Memorial Park in Donora. "Everybody's been so supportive," Martin said. "Marcus was a well-known person. There were people who liked him whom I didn't even know."


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