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The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and the Selma Police Department are investigating the death of a man who was found dead floating in the Alabama River near Minter early Saturday morning.

Dallas County Coroner William Alan Dailey said fishermen found the dead body floating in the Alabama River about 25 miles south of Selma.

“The fishermen noticed the dead body floating in the river around 7 a.m. Saturday morning,” Dailey said. “They were able to get the body on to the river bank, and that’s where they called 911.”

Dailey said the DCSO and SPD were dispatched to the scene. He said the body had been in the river for a while, and they were not able to identify the deceased person.

“We have sent the body to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine the identity of the body, and they will also determine the cause of death,” Dailey said. “The body was unrecognizable, and the person did not have any identification on him.”

Dailey said the person was a black male and was dressed. The cause of time and cause of death are under investigation.

“We cannot confirm whether this is related to any other cases at this time,” Dailey said. “We will have to hear back from forensics to be able to determine anything with regard to who the person was and what caused their death. We do not know when they will complete their report.”

Dailey said the report could take weeks or even months to be completed due to a backlog of cases with the Department of Forensic Sciences. He noted that it took three to four months to get the identity of a man who was found dead by railroad workers near the Old Montgomery Highway railroad crossing in May 2024.