Joliet police provided an update Friday afternoon on the search for missing 37-year-old Robert Long, shortly after his family confirmed his body had been found in the Des Plaines River.
Police confirmed at a press conference that Long’s body was located Friday morning, adding that a postmortem examination was scheduled for Saturday.
Long went missing on April 11 near North Bluff Street and the Des Plaines River. The father of seven had not been heard from or seen since.
Police said officers were in contact with the family immediately following his disappearance, and conducted interviews with those close to Long in efforts to learn more information.
“They have been very instrumental in searching for their loved one as well,” a spokesperson with the Joliet Police Department said.
Searches have been ongoing in the Des Plaines River since earlier this week, with the Joliet Fire Department utilizing both a boat and drone in the search, police said.
Long’s family assembled a search party with police and fire officials present, with police announcing that update would be given at a news conference nearly three hours after the search began.
Police confirmed at a news conference Friday afternoon that Long’s body was located Friday morning, with Long’s family positively identifying the body found.
“I don’t wish this pain on no mother. No mother. It’s hard,” Long’s mother Jewell Robinson said.
The cause of death will later be determined by the Will County Coroner’s office, police said.
Police confirmed that there is currently no evidence of foul play in Long’s death, adding that surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store is the only video footage that police currently have.
Long was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and sunglasses, with a tattoo on one of his forearms that reads “CPT.”