BUTLER COUNTY — The coroner’s office has identified the man recovered from inside an SUV that was found in the Great Miami River on Tuesday.
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The man was identified as 57-year-old Damien Varner of Hamilton, according to the Butler County Coroner’s Office.
Varner’s cause and manner of death was accidental drowning.
News Center 7 previously reported that the Butler County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Great Miami River near the Columbia Bridge in Hamilton around 3:45 p.m. for a vehicle in the water.
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The Hamilton Police Department informed the sheriff’s office that the vehicle, a white SUV, had driven into the river and was still believed to have someone inside of it.
The sheriff’s office emergency response services team (ERS) used an underwater drone to get a better look at the SUV. An ERS Ice Rescue Boat was used to retrieve a body from the SUV.
The ERS team faced “extremely severe challenges” while conducting their search due to the water temperature being around 32 degrees with the air temperature at -3 degrees, according to the sheriff’s office.
Varner was dead upon recovery, according to the sheriff’s office.
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