Man’s body found in Lake Conroe

Divers on Monday recovered a body believed to be that of the driver of a Chevrolet pickup that a day earlier plunged off a bridge into 30-foot-deep water in Lake Conroe in Montgomery County.

The body, described as a male in his 20s, was taken to the medical examiner for a positive identification, said Capt. Rusty Fincher with the Precinct 1 constable’s office.

Authorities have determined that the four-door, dark gray truck pulled from the lake belonged to 24-year-old Justin Allen Oeltjen of Willis. Oeltjen’s family says he has been missing since he left an area restaurant early Sunday morning.

An emergency vehicle crew passing over the FM 1097 bridge first noticed a hole smashed through the bridge’s guardrail — which had only recently been built — and alerted authorities about 2 a.m. Sunday. Dive teams utilizing sonar devices located the truck, but no body.

The man’s body was found close to where the truck had earlier been removed, he said.