A body recovered from the Charles River at about 7:30 p.m. yesterday remained unidentified as of late last night, as Boston University officials refused to speculate whether the body was that of College of Fine Arts professor John Daverio, who was last seen March 16.
According to BU spokesman Colin Riley, who visited the scene shortly after the body was pulled ashore, there would be ‘no determination [last night]’ of the body’s identity. The body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s office in Boston, and an autopsy is scheduled for today, according to Middlesex District Attorney spokesman Seth Horwitz, who said there were no obvious signs of foul play.
The body was discovered by Northeastern University Men’s Crew head coach John Pojednic, who was leading his team in a practice on the river. Pojednic nearly ran over the corpse in his boat, he said.
‘It looked like a big log, so I got close to move it out of the way of the team,’ Pojednic said. ‘Then I saw it was a body. I grabbed it by the neck and flipped it over to see if he was just unconscious, but he was clearly gone. This one wasn’t going to be revived.’
Pojednic said the body had a small frame and was wearing winter clothing, which matches descriptions BU officials have provided about Daverio. However, Pojednic said he could not identify any facial characteristics due to decomposition. Sergeant Jack St. Hilaire of the Boston University Police Department only identified the body as a ‘white male.’
After realizing the body was deceased, Pojednic said he waved his rowers away from the scene, went over to the bank and yelled for passers-by to call for assistance. A rollerblader called the Boston Fire Department on his cellular phone, and fire department and State Police officials reported to the scene shortly thereafter to help Pojednic pull the body to the northern bank of the Charles River in front of the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Pojednic said.
Police, officials for the Middlesex District Attorney and State Medical Examiner representatives were unable to identify the body at the scene, a spokesman for the Middlesex District Attorney said.
Daverio, a 48-year-old professor in the School of Music, was last seen exiting the College of Fine Arts at 8:39 p.m. heading toward the BU Bridge on Sunday, March 16, according to CFA dean ad interim Walt Meisner, who spoke at an update for the CFA community on March 20. Daverio’s wallet and briefcase were left in his office, and the door to his Allston apartment was left ajar, Meisner said.
Pojednic said that this was not the first body he has discovered in the Charles.
‘I once saw the body of a man who had jumped off the BU Bridge,’ Pojednic said. ‘If anyone is going to find that out there, it’s [the crew team].’
Pojednic’s crew team will not be affected by the discovery, the coach said.
‘I tried to keep the kids away from it they should be OK,’ Pojednic said. ‘Unfortunately, these things happen.’
-Staff writers Linda Boulden, Joshua Karlin-Resnick and Steve Moore contributed to this report.
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