Second Body Identified in Phylicia Barnes Case
No known connection between Barnes and second body, police said
April 26, 2011 -- The man's body found near the corpse of teenager Phylicia Barnes was identified today and police believe the second body has no connection to the girl's death.
The body of Darryl Harper, 53, of Richmond, Va., was discovered in the Susquehanna River last Wednesday hours after Maryland state troopers found Barnes' body three miles up the same river.
Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley told ABC News there is no known connection between Harper and Barnes.
"He had his own troubles and issues," Shipley said.
Forensics matched fingerprints from Harper's body with prints entered in a missing persons database.
Harper's wife told police her husband left Richmond in early March, and she reported him missing on April 15. Harper had checked himself into a hospital in Harrisburg, Pa., on the Susquehanna River on March 25 and requested help with mental health issues. Harper stayed in the hospital one night.
According to his wife, Harper made suicide threats to a relative in March, and he previously attempted suicide in 2006.
Police do not have any new leads in the investigation into the death of Barnes, 16, and the time of her death and the cause of her death remain undetermined. Barnes, who was from North Carolina, was visiting her half-sister in Baltimore last December when she disappeared.
Barnes' half brother, Bryan Barnes, told the Baltimore Sun last week that he believed she had no reason to visit the dam where her body was discovered. The dam was about 40 miles from where Barnes was staying.
An assembly was held in Barnes' honor at her high school in Monroe, N.C., on Monday. Students wore Barnes' favorite color purple in her honor. A memorial service for Barnes will be held in North Carolina on Thursday.
