Body found in St. Marys River Sunday sparks renewed interest in missing persons cases

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - The Allen County Coroner’s Office has identified the person who was found in the Saint Marys River near Promenade Park over the weekend as a 45-year-old Charles White of Fort Wayne.

Before the coroner released the name of that man pulled from the river, families across the city were wondering if it was one of the dozens of people from Fort Wayne who are missing.

“I believe that a missing person’s pain is extremely hard,” Kevin Nguyen’s Grandmother Dee Campbell said. “You have no closure. It’s one thing to have a homicide and you have a place to go visit. but with Kevin we don’t.”

Next month will mark three and a half years since he went missing. When she found out Sunday morning that a body was pulled from the Saint Marys river, she was wondering if it could be someone who’s been reported missing. Campbell says it was news that brought out a number of emotions.

“Panic, sadness, hurt,” Campbell said. “It could be my grandson.”

Investigators at the time told us they didn’t know how long the body had been in the river, or how old the person was. Campbell says while she realized it was likely that it was Kevin’s body, she’s still curious.

“When that came up, immediately I got nauseated because I thought it was my grandson,” Campbell said. “But if it’s not, someone will get closure.”

Nguyen has been missing since December of 2018 and was last seen on surveillance video walking downtown near Arby’s after leaving the Brass Rail Bar. The case has even garnered the attention of the FBI.

In the end, Campbell hopes one day that she’ll know why Kevin went missing.

“I hope that those people find it in their hearts or sleep at night if they was to say where Kevin is, what happened to Kevin?” Campbell said. “Something I probably don’t want to know.”

Campbell says there have not been any recent updates on Kevin’s whereabouts.

Fort Wayne police ask that you give them a call if you know anything in Kevin’s case, or have information about the body found in the river.

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