OLEAN, N.Y. — Olean police have identified the man found dead Sunday afternoon along the Allegheny River Valley Trail.
Olean City Police Department Chief Jeff Rowley early Monday morning reported Robert E. Shoup, 49, whose last known address was on North Seventh Street in the city, was located just off the trail near where it passes by the wastewater treatment plant. An autopsy was scheduled for that day, Rowley said.
“It’s an unattended death at this point, really no different than if we found somebody in their home,” Rowley said. “We have no reason to believe at this time that there’s anything suspicious. Until we find something that would change our mind on that, we’re investigating as to why this man is dead, but at this point we have no reason to elevate the suspicion level, so to speak.”
Shoup’s was the second body to be found along the river trail in the last six months. On May 25, Robert L. Granger Sr., an 83-year-old Korean War veteran, died on the trail and fell into the Allegheny River closer to St. Bonaventure University. Granger was bicycling around the trail with his dog, as he did often, and likely suffered a medical emergency, authorities and family members said at the time.
On Sunday, police responded shortly before 12:30 p.m. to a citizen reporting the unattended death of a man, who at that point hadn’t been identified, near mile marker 3 on the trail. The paved trail, frequented by bicyclists and walkers, around that point begins heading north past the wastewater treatment plant toward South 20th Street.
Brad Spink, Cattaraugus County coroner, pronounced Shoup dead, Rowley said. Autopsy results could take some time.
“If they have to do a toxicology to determine the death, if that’s what needs to be done, that takes a while,” the police chief added. “If they’re able to determine a cause today, then I may have a preliminary report.”
The Olean Police Department is the investigation’s lead agency.
“If it was determined this was an unnatural death and somehow the investigation led us somewhere else, we would seek the assistance of other agencies, if that was the case,” Rowley said. “That’s just purely speculation at this time. You can never say never.”
Anyone with information can call the police station at 376-5678.
