BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio -- The body of a 35-year-old man was pulled from Four Mile Creek in Butler County early Saturday morning, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones confirmed.
Deputies were called to search for Joseph Daniel Earnest around midnight Saturday, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. Earnest was inner-tubing with 39-year-old James Johnson on Four Mile Creek in St. Clair Township at around 10 p.m. The two were separated in the dark; Earnest began to float downstream, Johnson told deputies.
When Johnson couldn't find Earnest, family members and New Miami police and fire conducted a search of the creek, the press release said.
Earnest's body was found around 3:30 a.m. Saturday in a part of the creek with deep water and swift currents, Jones' release said.
The case remains under investigation by the Butler County Sheriff's Office.
