UPDATE: Body was missing Manitowoc man

Updated September 28 2016 @ 3:25 p.m.

The Brillion News

TOWN OF NEWTON – The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department and the county Coroner’s Office are investigating the death of a person whose body was found on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, September 28, the coroner’s office identified the body as that of 75-year old Francis R. Knipp of Manitowoc. He had been missing since September 11, when a sailboat was found capsized.

A preliminary investigation lists the cause of death as an accidental drowning. Foul play is not suspected.

At 12:35 p.m. Tuesday, a citizen called the county 911 communications center and reported a body being found on a beach near a home on Lakeshore Drive (County LS), south of the Manitowoc city limits. The sheriff’s department and coroner’s office responded, along with the Manitowoc Police Department and the Silver Creek Fire Department.

Earlier in the month, a search was conducted for Knipp, who had gone sailing near Manitowoc and never returned. His sailboat was found empty and capsized.