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Newsroom
4/17/2008
A body found along the north shore of Lady Bird Lake yesterday afternoon has been identified, but the way police say he ended up there presents its own set of odd twists.
Witnesses at the scene Wednesday afternoon say the body, now identified as Riad Hamad, 55, an Austin Independent School District teacher, washed up at Festival Beach Park sometime before 2:00 p.m., when one young woman says she called 9-1-1. She told News Radio 590 KLBJ the man's body had been "wrapped with duct tape".
Austin Police Sergeant Joseph Chacon confirms the man was bound with duct tape.
"The bindings, although I cannot go into them extensively, it's possible that he could have done them to himself," Chacon says.
"We have not ruled out that foul play might be involved. However, we have no indication right now that that is the case."
Police say the case began on Monday as a missing person's case. Tuesday, APD was assisted by emergency management officials in a boat and helicopter search but turned up nothing. Then, Wednesday afternoon, the man's body was discovered.
Investigators say it's not impossible that Hamad would have acted alone, although bizarre.
"We spoke with several witnesses, including his family that said there have been extreme pressures in his life," Chacon says. "Initially when the report was made to us that he had gone missing, the family brought forth that he was experiencing suicidal thoughts."
His car was found untouched on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake.
Austin Police are asking anyone who may have been on either side of the lake late Monday night to call police with tips.
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