Body found at Coralville Reservoir could be missing snowmobiler

A kayaker found a body in the Coralville Lake early Friday afternoon authorities say could be the remains of a missing snowmobiler.

Martin “Marty” Davis, 52, of rural Cedar Rapids, was last seen by his girlfriend on Jan. 3, 2010 when he had told her that he was going out for a ride on his snowmobile. Area law enforcement, partnered with dozens of volunteers, spent days searching the fields and ditches in the Coralville Lake area, but found nothing.

Authorities and family had worried that Davis' snowmobile had fallen through the ice.

Johnson County Sheriff's deputies say the body was found approximately half a mile east of the Mid River Marina on the reservoir's south shore at around 1:30 p.m., not far from where a fisherman had found a snowmobiler's helmet on March 15 that family members later confirmed belonged to Davis.

Since then, Johnson County Sheriff's deputies have been using sonar and drag equipment, as well as cold water dive teams to search for the missing Davis, but had said that if Davis' snowmobile had gone through the ice in January, the Linn County man's body wouldn't surface until the waters got warmer.

Authorities stress it is impossible to identify the deceased until after an autopsy, which is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, April 4, in Des Moines.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said in a statement that the Davis family does not want to comment to the public at this time.