Missing Glendale Man's Body Found Near Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Site

GLENDALE, CA -- The body of a 35-year-old Glendale man who was reported missing in November was found in a North Dakota river, authorities said Tuesday.

Damjan Nedelkovski's body was found by a local fisherman around 11:30 a.m. Sunday along the shoreline of the Cannonball River near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Department.

An autopsy of his body did not show any trauma leading to suspicions of foul play, and the cause of death was not immediately determined, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said at a news conference Monday that it was unknown how long Nedelkovski's body had been in the river but said it couldn't have been long as he was found wearing jeans, a T-shirt and tennis shoes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to the Times, Kirchmeier said the Glendale resident was last in contact with his friends and family sometime around Oct. 26 before disappearing and his stepbrother filed a missing person report with the Glendale Police Department on Nov. 16.

Nedelkovski lived in Glendale but was originally from Macedonia and an ID issued by the country was found on his person, the sheriff said.

Nedelkovski was believed to have driven from Glendale to join the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Times reported. He was known to be at protest camps in the area before his death and his body was found near a former camp site, the newspaper reported.

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of the Morton County Sheriff's Department