Suspect who swam from security found dead
EUGENE, Ore. -- A shoplifting suspect who escaped capture by jumping into the Willamette River was found dead Sunday, more than a month after he was last seen trying to swim back to shore.
Deer hunters discovered the body along the Willamette River on Sunday in Benton County. Fingerprints helped identify the body as that of 37-year-old William Christopher Griffith.
An autopsy was inconclusive but determined Griffith likely died due to drowning.
Griffith fled from security guards at the Valley River Center mall around 8:37 p.m. on Oct. 30, suspected of shoplifting a bracelet and a pair of athletic shoes from Macy's.
Guards chased after Griffith on foot as he made his way first to a paved bike trail and then to the edge of the Willamette River, just south of the mall. Griffith jumped into the river at a boat ramp at a Eugene park.
The Lane County Sheriff's Marine Patrol and Eugene police and firefighters arrived on scene to attempt to apprehend Griffith. He was last seen trying to swim back towards the north bank of the Willamette River shortly before 9 p.m.
The location where his body was found is several miles downstream from Eugene, Ore., in neighboring Benton County.
