Law enforcement authorities announced on Tuesday afternoon they have identified the body which was discovered in the Watauga River last week as a 30-year-old Elizabethton man who had been missing for more than a month.

Elizabethton Police Department Chief Jason Shaw said the body has been positively identified as Jacob W. Hampton, 30, of Elizabethton.

“Mr. Hampton was reported by family to have been missing for over a month,” Shaw said. “Our condolences go out to the family of Mr. Hampton.”

The discovery of Hampton’s body is currently being investigated by both the Elizabethton Police Department and the Carter County Sheriff’s Office, Shaw said.

“Investigators from both agencies are working to establish a timeline and determine how long the body had been in the river,” Shaw said.

At this time, no cause of death has been determined, and Shaw said “It’s still too early to tell” if foul play was involved in the death of Hampton.

“We haven’t received any preliminary results from the autopsy at this time,” Shaw said. “The primary focus was to identify who it was. Now that we’ve done that we can work on the when, what, why, and how.”

Shaw said no further information is available for release at this time, but that both agencies are seeking the public’s help in determining what happened to Hampton.

“Investigators are asking for persons with information regarding their last contact with Mr. Hampton to call either the Elizabethton Police Department CID at 423-547-6250 or the Carter County Sheriff’s Department CID at 423-543-1896,” Shaw said.

Those with information to share can also submit those tips online through either the Elizabethton Police Department’s website at www.elizabethton.org/departments/report_a_crime.php or through the Carter County Sheriff’s Office website at www.sheriff.cc/contacts/crime-tip/. Tips can be submitted through either agency anonymously.