Autopsy could take six to eight weeks

By RALPH BARTHOLDT

Staff Writer

The identification and autopsy of a human body found floating in Lake Coeur d’Alene Thursday could take six weeks, according to the Kootenai County Coroner’s Office.

Kootenai County marine deputies located the body, believed to be that of 68-year-old Larry Isenberg, a short time after 1 p.m. near Sun-Up Bay.

Deputy coroner Jo-Ann Porter, of the Kootenai County Coroner’s Office, said an autopsy conducted by the Spokane County Examiner’s Office will likely take between six to eight weeks.

“We don’t have a positive identification,” Porter said.

Examiners must use DNA testing to determine if the body is Larry Isenberg, who was reported missing more than two weeks ago by his wife, Laurcene “Lori” Barnes Isenberg, who faces a felony grand theft charge.

Lori said her husband fell from their boat into the lake at Powderhorn Bay, north of Harrison approximately 3 miles from where the sheriff’s office said the body was recovered. The body was found in the Sun-Up Bay area near Worley after a resident called 911 and reported what appeared to be a body floating face down in the water.

Sun-Up Bay, on the west side of the lake, is where Isenberg told deputies she and Larry had launched their boat in the early hours Feb. 13, before motoring across the lake to Powderhorn Bay where Isenberg said her husband fell into the water.

In general, Porter said, drowned bodies sink and once gases form, they float to the surface.

“It depends on the temperature and the currents,” Porter said. “Every case is different.”

The investigation into the death is ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.

In a Feb. 20 email to friends, Lori Isenberg said she and her husband went out in the boat around 4:30 a.m. at Sun-Up Bay, and Larry went into the water while trying to fix an electric motor on the bow of the boat. The incident occurred several hours after this newspaper reported that Lori Isenberg’s employer, the nonprofit North Idaho Housing Coalition had severed ties with her and was conducting a financial audit.

Isenberg was arrested Monday, Feb. 26, and charged with grand theft. Her bond was set at $75,000. The bond was posted the same day and she was released from the Kootenai County Jail.