The person found deceased in a Catawba County waterway has been identified. The deceased is 33-year-old Ron Christopher Broussard, Jr., who lists a Rocky Mount, N.C. address.

On Saturday (April 1) at 10:53 a.m. deputies with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Hickory Police Department responded to a report of a deceased person spotted in a tributary of the Henry Fork River.

First reports came from a resident on Catawba Valley Boulevard who’d taken note of the rising water level. The body was ultimately located in the tributary along Dorothy Court. Earlier today (April 3) the Sheriff’s Office issued a news release stating that the body was identified as Ron Christopher Broussard, Jr. Although he listed a Rocky Mount address, family members told the Sheriff’s Office that Broussard began residing in the Hickory area in 2022.

The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate Broussard’s death. Sheriff’s Investigators aren’t commenting of the possibility of foul play at this time. An autopsy is pending. Anyone with information concerning this investigation is asked to contact Sheriff’s investigators at 828-464-3112.

(News release from the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office)