Chico State student missing for 9 days found dead in Sacramento River, Butte deputies say

A Chico State student who disappeared nine days ago in the Sacramento River was found dead Thursday morning, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office.

A fisherman contacted authorities after seeing the body of Anthony William Mahr, 22, floating a quarter mile upstream from Scotty’s Boat Landing in Chico at 9:20 a.m. Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. The body was recovered at 10:40 a.m. sheriff’s detectives, marine unit and search and rescue units.

Officials say the cause of death is pending and the investigation is ongoing.

Mahr, of Chico, was a rising senior at Chico State, according to local TV news station Action News Now. He had gone missing Aug. 20 while floating on the Sacramento River with friends Brenston Rhodes, 22, and Lavina Corsbie, 22, the Sheriff’s Office said in an earlier report.

Deputies were alerted at 5:30 p.m. when Rhodes broke into a home near the river, the report said.

Rhodes was located and arrested later that evening on suspicion of residential burglary, and told deputies that the friends’ floating device had failed and they’d fallen into the river, according to the report.

The sheriff’s earlier post said that officials had located Corsbie in the Chico area, but Mahr was still missing at that time.

This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 7:38 PM.