No Foul Play Suspected In Salisbury Drowning

SALISBURY — No foul play is suspected in the drowning of a Salisbury man found floating in a spillway in a city park by a passerby early Monday morning.

Around 9 a.m. on Monday, Salisbury Police responded to the City Park to investigate a 911 call reporting a body in the water. Upon arrival, officers met with a witness who had observed the victim, later identified as Rodney Elliott Stevenson, Jr., 25, of Salisbury, in the water near the bridge at Snow Hill Rd. and East Main Street.

The witness had been walking in the park when he observed the body in the water and called 911. Salisbury Police located the victim and emergency personnel from the Salisbury Fire Department responded and recovered the body.

The investigation revealed Stevenson left his family residence on Ohio Ave. around 8:30 a.m. The victim was walking from his Ohio Ave. residence to a planned destination in the area of East Main Street and Mount Hermon Rd.

The Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene on Monday and the preliminary investigation revealed an injury to the victim’s head. However, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted a full autopsy on Tuesday and upon closer examination determined there was no injury to the victim’s head as had been reported by the on-scene forensic investigator.

The preliminary autopsy results revealed the cause of death was drowning. The toxicology results are still pending and a full autopsy report is expected to take several weeks.

The Salisbury Police are reporting there are no signs of foul play associated with the drowning, although the investigation is ongoing.