Fairfax County, Va. –– The body of a female boater who went missing last weekend on the Occoquan River was recovered this morning.
Police search teams Friday found the body of 64-year-old Julia Shew on the river shoreline near Fountain Head Regional Park, at 10875 Hampton Road in Fairfax County.
She was recovered at 10:25 a.m., nearly a week after she went missing off the Sandy Run Regional Park.
Shew went missing about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, after a day of training for an upcoming boat race that went on without her Sunday.
For most of the week following her disappearance, police and fire and rescue marine units, divers and a helicopter were used to search for the woman, according to Fairfax County police spokesman Bud Walker.
The body has been sent to the state’s medical examiner’s office for examination.
Officials said Shew was a seasoned boater who often trained in the area in which her body was found.
On Sunday, Fairfax fire and rescue spokesman Capt. Willie Bailey said conditions on the river at the time the woman was reported missing were unusually rough, with one to two feet waves.
Police said earlier this week their focus would remain on searching the water for Shew’s body, and that investigators did not suspect foul play in the woman’s disappearance.
