Des Moines homeless man's body identified after nine years

The identity of a homeless man found in the Des Moines River has been discovered after nine years of searching.

The man's ex-wife told WHO-HD that she saw Robert McMahon's autopsy picture on the news channel's cold cases series in 2010 and notified police. After being told incorrect information, the woman said she reviewed the story again on iowacoldcases.org and was sure the man was her ex-husband.

"We were able to present the remains of what we've been calling John Doe 2005 for the past nine years to the family today," Polk County Chief Medical Examiner Gregory Schmunk said.

In October 2005, McMahon's body was found in the river near the Center Street Dam close to a homeless camp. Officials found $10 cash on him but no identification.

County investigators struggled to identify the body for years, showing a picture of the McMahon's face taken during the autopsy to doctors, police and the homeless.

"We checked all the homeless encampments, we checked all of the shelters and everything else. Nobody could recognize this guy," Schmunk said.

Then WHO series ran and McMahon's ex-wife contacted the Des Moines Police Department, but said officials incorrectly told her the body was a Hispanic male. She contacted the medical examiner's office after checking the story again four years later, certain the man was McMahon.

Family members said McMahon, who went by his middle name, Bryan, had studied to be a chef in France and Atlanta. He was a good man who owned a restaurant in Boone for several years but alcoholism robbed him of his business, family and life, the said.

Now the family is at peace, they said.