TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa police said they discovered a body in a collapsed tunnel in the Arkansas River on Sunday .
The man has been identified as Andrew Farris. They said he'd been digging a tunnel near the embankment at 56th and Riverside while searching for copper wiring. He was reported missing by his girlfriend.
“Thursday he left and she hadn’t heard him for a while. Came out here and checked out his excavation project in the middle of the night last night and it was collapsed. At that point she called police and asked for help,” said TPD Lieutenant Josh Goldstein.
Because it was so dark, the recovery efforts had to wait until Sunday morning.
“Once the excavator got here, probably around three hours of digging, located what we believed to be a shoe. Moved some more dirt and they were able to slowly dig around and find the entirety of the victim’s body,” said Lt. Goldstein.
On Sunday morning, Riverside Drive was full of people enjoying the nice weather, including Bryan Overbow and Sky Gabel.
“We were actually just down there just kind of checking out the scenery I guess and stumbled across it. Yeah it’s a little unsettling,” said Overbow and Gabel.
Overbow and Gabel are new to Tulsa, but said this discovery won’t stop them from coming back.
“I don’t think it would deter me from visiting again, it’s kind of just a bizarre thing to happen I guess,” said Overbow.
Lieutenant Goldstein says TPD, the Medical Examiner’s office, the Tulsa Fire Department and an anthropologist were all called in to help in the recovery.
Goldstein said the copper wiring found in the tunnel wasn’t connected to anything so they’re still investigating whether he was hiding it there or digging farther down looking for more.
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