Body of missing 26-year-old Washington County man pulled from Monongahela River

The body of a missing 26-year-old man from Washington County was pulled from the Monongahela River this weekend. 

According to the Allegheny County Coroner's Office, 26-year-old Shelby Rhodes was pulled from the river on Saturday evening around 6:30 p.m. 

The body was pulled from the river near Bunola River Road in Forward Township. 

Rhodes had been missing since early February, when he was last seen near the Monongahela River under the city's bridge. 

Community holds vigil to remember Rhodes

For the roughly 70 people who came to a vigil for Shelby on Sunday evening, it was the outcome no one wanted.

"I had so much hope that he was out there somewhere," Jessica Rhodes, Shelby's sister, said. "It's difficult to put into words. He's my baby brother. It's not supposed to end this way."

She's hoping police will figure out what happened to her brother and that foul play is not involved.

"It's just heartbreaking because I know he wouldn't do it on purpose," Rhodes said. 

"I'm sorry that he's gone because I had so much hope for that man," said a friend of Rhodes at the vigil.

"He tried so hard to become something, and this is what it had to come to," said another.

They also remembered his ability to make everyone laugh. 

"As much as he tried to act like a tough guy. He wore his heart on his sleeve," Jessica Rhodes said. "We've been through so much together, you know, we've been homeless together. We've moved from motels together."

Last month, crews used high-tech equipment to assist with the search, but at the time, the river was still covered with ice. 

"It's been an all-out effort to try to recover or find the gentleman that's missing," said Monongahela City Fire Chief Aaron Leezer at the time. 

The search focused on the riverbanks, underwater, but visibility was low. To assist in the search, they utilized an aerial drone, sonar equipment, and underwater drones. 

"They're like really small submarines, basically, and they have cameras and everything on them, and they can go under and, seeing what we can't see under the ice," Leezer explained.

The coroner's report provided to KDKA-TV did not provide a cause of death.