Body Pulled from Grist Mill Pond [Updated]

Editor's Note: This story has been updated.

Late Tuesday afternoon news outlets including the Express-Times and the Morning Call reported that a body was recovered from one of two ponds in Hellertown's Grist Mill Park, according to the Northampton County Communications Center.

The news came after it was reported earlier in the day that the Northampton County Coroner had been called to the park next to the Saucon Creek.

Channel 69 WFMZ News reported that the coroner was summoned for the discovery of a body at the pond.

Shortly before 4pm, a number of large SUVs and pickup trucks with tinted windows could be observed near the pond furthest from Walnut Street.

Meanwhile a Hellertown police cruiser was parked in the gravel lot next to the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill and a Lower Saucon Township Police SUV was parked along Walnut Street.

Shortly after 4pm, many of the unmarked and police vehicles left the park via an access road that runs in between the two ponds and the Saucon Creek.

Emergency officials have not yet commented on the identity of the person whose body has been recovered, but Hellertown Police announced Tuesday that a 38-year-old Allentown man was last seen in the area of the ponds on March 28.

The missing man—identified as Steven P. Lockard—is believed to suffer from a mental disability, but is not considered a threat to the public, police said.