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Body Recovered in Napa River Appears to Be That of Missing Woman Crystal McCarthy

NAPA (CBS SF) -- Authorities in the North Bay on Thursday confirmed the recovery of a body from the Napa River that appears to be missing resident Crystal McCarthy, according to Napa police.

According to a post by the Napa Police Department's Facebook account, on Thursday afternoon, Napa County Sheriff's Deputy James Baumgardner was patrolling the Napa River on a sheriff's boat as part of a continuing the search for the Napa woman first reported missing to police on December 14.

Baumgardner fond the body of a woman in the river near the Third Street Bridge close to downtown Napa, police said. Napa Police Detectives and Napa Sheriff's Coroner Deputies responded to the dock near Third Street and the recovered the body.

While a positive identification will not be confirmed until after an autopsy is completed, authorities said the body appears to be Crystal McCarthy. She was last seen near the Napa River, upstream from where the body was found Thursday.

Police said an autopsy is scheduled for the middle of next week. Until the autopsy, no further details on the condition of the body, or speculations on the cause of death will be released.

McCarthy's father, mother, and boyfriend were notified in the abundance of caution that the body recovered is McCarthy. Police noted that unfortunately, spectators posted to social media ahead of official notifications.

Police ask that any new information in the case be directed to Napa Police Detective Brandt Keown at bkeown@cityofnapa.org or 707 257-9592.

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