LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Nearly nine months after a body was pulled out of the lower Niagara River, law enforcement officials have made a positive ID.
On the afternoon of June 27, 2020, the Niagara County Sheriff's office got a call from a citizen about a possible body in the water off of Lower River Road in Youngstown. The body was recovered and sent to the Niagara County Coroner's office.
An investigation determined the victim was possibly the subject of a missing person report by the Niagara Regional Police Services in Ontario, Canada. Officers from that agency were able to collect a DNA sample from a family member of the missing person and compare it to the deceased.
On February 10, a DNA match was made and the victim positively identified as 25-year-old Jie YU from China. YU had been reported missing after being spotted going over the Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario on December 10, 2019.
