Man, 49, found dead in River Don after dog walker spotted corpse floating in water

Police confirmed that a 49-year-old was found dead in the River Don in Masborough, close to Armer Street today (Sunday, December 13).

Officers received a call from at 10.26am this morning that a corpse had been found in the water, after a dog walker alerted a group of magnet fishers – who use high-powered magnets instead of bait to find forgotten objects – that a body was floating near the surface.

South Yorkshire Police have confirmed that his death is not being treated as suspicious at this time and a file has been prepared for the coroner.

Leanne Oldfield, 25, from Dinnington made the call to the emergency services, after a friend she was fishing with from Yorkshire Magneteers club told her there was a corpse in the river.

The 25-year-old said she could see the dead man’s head facing down in the water: “The fisher the dog walker called over usually plays jokes on everyone so we didn’t know whether to believe him.

"Then we all went down to the water and realised it’s not a joke, so I phoned the police.

"You could see his head and his jacket when facing down in the water, he was dressed really smartly and he was wearing brown suede type shoes.”

Minutes later, police cars, ambulances, divers and fire engines had flooded the scene at the River Don to investigate the discovery.

Despite initial reports that the small group thought the body was a rucksack, Leanne insisted that the fishers knew it was a body.

"We didn’t want to do anything until the police got there, we knew it was a body straight away.”

The 25-year-old fisher who was at the scene expressed her condolences for the family of the 49-year-old man who has not yet been identified.

"It was just not a very nice thing to come across and our thoughts go out to his family.

"I really feel for them and that’s all I am thinking about right now.”

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