Body identified as missing Sagle man

SANDPOINT — The body pulled from the Pend Oreille River on Friday has been positively identified as that of Patrick Clifford Opferman, a Sagle man who went missing last fall.

Preliminary autopsy findings indicate Opferman drowned accidentally, Bonner County Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Harris said in a news release issued on Monday. Harris said there are no signs of foul play.

Opferman, 51, was last seen on Nov. 30, 2008, at the Long Bridge Grill in Sagle.

Authorities believe Opferman fell from the Long Bridge’s pedestrian path while walking northbound toward Sandpoint.

Opferman had reportedly been unable to secure a ride home from the bar, sheriff’s officials have said.

Harris said Det. Sgt. Phyllis Jay is still seeking information on Opferman’s whereabouts in the period of time leading up to his disappearance.

Opferman’s body was discovered in the river west of Johnson Creek by a Pend Oreille Valley Railroad worker.

His body was reportedly caught on a branch about 10 or 15 feet from shore.

Court records suggest Opferman was being sought for arrest at the time of disappearance.

He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving two weeks before he went missing and was accused of violating the terms of his probation from a drunken-driving conviction in 2007.

The last death from a suspected fall from the U.S. Highway 95 bridge was in 2004. Danny Clune, a 29-year-old computer programmer from Sandpoint, presumably fell from the bridge while intoxicated.

Clune’s body was discovered in the river at Dover by a duck hunter more than a month after disappearance.

Those with information about Opferman’s whereabouts in the days leading up to his disappearance on Nov. 30, 2008, are asked to call Det. Sgt. Phyllis Jay at 263-8417, extension 3056.