The death of a man whose body was discovered near Nesquehoning Creek between the borough and Jim Thorpe has been ruled accidental.

An autopsy was performed, however the man’s identity had not yet been released in time for today’s publication until his next of kin are notified, Carbon County Coroner Bob Miller said. The man is believed to have been just released from prison.

“We think we know who it is,” Miller said.

Miller said following the autopsy that they positively identified the man, but police had not yet contacted all of his family members. 

“It was an accidental death,” he said. “It looked like the guy fell down the bank.”

The description given is of a white man in his mid-50s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with white shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt with a red and blue design. The square design read “Quik Silver” underneath it. He was wearing black jeans and one burgundy-colored boot.

“We have a picture of the guy; the clothes that he was wearing when he left the jail, and he still has those clothes on, everything matches,” Miller said. “Hopefully today we notify next of kin and we get a funeral director.”

Two fishermen discovered the body Sunday morning, and Nesquehoning police were dispatched to the area at 11:48 a.m.

Police met the fishermen, who were heading down the creek toward James Run, along Route 209 in a pull-off area.

The police went down an embankment near the train tracks and hiked down another embankment to the creek, where they found the body.

Fire crews from New Columbus, Hauto and Nesquehoning staged at the sewer plant and then helped to bring the body up from the bottom of a steep embankment.

A pathologist determined on Wednesday that the man had been dead for 1-2 weeks. Miller said previously that it appeared that the body was there about a month.