Body found in Yuba River may be Marysville man

Dental records from a body pulled from the Yuba River on Tuesday night are being compared to a Marysville man who went missing last month.

The body was spotted by a kayaker about halfway between Bridgeport and Highway 99, according to the Grass Valley Union newspaper. The body was recovered around 5 p.m. after sheriff’s deputies, search-and-rescue volunteers and a California Highway Patrol helicopter searched the area.

Capt. Paul Schmidt with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Department said there is not yet a confirmed identity.

“The body is so decomposed that we couldn’t get fingerprints,” Schmidt said Thursday. “We’re going to have to do it by dental records.”

The Coroner’s Office will be comparing teeth to dental records of Jesse Babb, 23, of Marysville, who was swept away by the Yuba River on May 27. Schmidt said confirming an identity could take a minimum of two weeks.

Babb was caught by a swift current when he jumped into the river with a boogie board near the Highway 49 bridge. A boogie board is typically used to bodyboard the crest or curl of a wave.

Officials have warned residents of the danger of swimming in the rivers right now due to the high water levels, swift currents, and mud and debris from storms this year.

Schmidt said that while he would guess the body belongs to Babb, he cannot confirm that it doesn’t belong to someone else who may have fallen into the river. He said there is “no reliable” way to say how long the body had been in the river or how long the person has been dead.