Tyler County officials on Wednesday recovered the body of a Colmesneil man who apparently drowned in the Neches River over the weekend. Family and friends have identified him as 36-year-old George Clifford Neyland III, commonly known as “Cliff”.
According to game wardens, family members reported Neyland missing on Saturday and the only information they knew what that he was at the Neches River, but they didn’t know where. Game wardens say they searched the Neches River over the weekend, but without a definitive starting point, they couldn’t do an in-depth search on any particular area.
That question was answered on Wednesday when Neyland’s body surfaced near an area called Fox’s Landing, which is at the end of County Road 3900, just north of Recreational Road 255.
The recovery was made by Game Warden Roy Eddins and Tyler County deputies, and Neyland was pronounced dead at the scene by Tyler County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Trisher Ford.
Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding the death remain under investigation, and Judge Ford has ordered an autopsy.