Body found in Contentnea Creek identified

GRIFTON — The man whose body was found by canoeists in Contentnea Creek on Friday died of drowning, according to a preliminary autopsy.

Grifton police have identified the victim as 56-year-old Leslie Artis, who lived near the creek.

 “Preliminary results of the autopsy indicated that he died of drowning,” said Bryan Cauley, Grifton chief of police. “At this point, we have not quite narrowed down how he got in the water.”

The canoeists — a couple visiting the area — found the body floating in the water about 200 yards from the South Highland Avenue Bridge around 7:30 p.m. Friday, said Cauley, who added Artis had his clothes on with his identification inside when authorities got him out of the water.

Cauley said a local resident last saw Artis, of 304 Contentnea Drive — a side street that runs parallel to the creek— sitting on the railing of the bridge Friday around 11:30 a.m.

“We do not have any indication in our investigation that would suggest (someone else was involved in his drowning),” Cauley said.

The suspicious death alarmed Grifton residents Tuesday.

“I was just shocked,” said John W. Smith, pastor of Savannah Free Will Baptist Church on Cameron Lankston Road in Grifton. “This doesn’t happen everyday.”

Smith said his parishioners have not become worried about foul-play in the death, but that they remain concerned for the victim.

“When I heard about it and read it in the paper, I offered a prayer right then and there for him and our community,” Smith said.

The final autopsy report from the N.C. Chief Medical Examiner, which could take several weeks to return, should tell how long Artis remained in the water, Cauley said.

 “We are still trying to tie up our loose ends on the investigation, getting any information we can, to see if we can narrow down the time frame of the drowning and determine who he was with that day,” Cauley said.

Wesley Brown can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wbrown@freedoemenc.com.