The Erie County coroner's office is seeking medical records to determine if a body found Saturday is that of a missing Washington Township man.
The coroner's office on Monday said a man's body was found Saturday less than a mile from the Walnut Creek Access Area on the Lake Erie shore.
Officials suspect the body could be Fran Medwick, 53, of Quarry Lane, Washington Township.
Erie County Chief Deputy Coroner Lyle P. Cook said he has requested dental and other records that could confirm identification.
Medwick was last seen July 22 when he set out alone on his boat from the Walnut Creek Access Area for a day of fishing. Other boaters saw Medwick's boat that day about 4 1/2 miles out, in about 50 feet of water.
Medwick was heard talking on his marine radio between 7 and 8 a.m. that day but, about 2:30 p.m., his empty boat was found adrift near the mouth of Elk Creek, a few miles to the west of Walnut Creek. The weather that day was overcast and the lake was choppy with waves of 4 feet to 6 feet and 20-knot winds.
The Coast Guard, state Fish and Boat Commission, firefighters and volunteers searched a 200-square-mile area of the lake for more than 16 hours before calling off the search.
Cook said, if he gets Medwick's medical records, an identification could be made by the end of the week. A Coast Guard spokesman said no one else is known to be missing in that part of Lake Erie.
The Erie Times News reported that DNA testing will be used if dental records can't be found.
