Report identifies teens who died

LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — An autopsy report has identified the two teens who died after jumping from a bridge over the Tennessee River in Loudon County in April.

On April 9, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office shared that it was searching for two of three teenagers who were believed to have jumped from a bridge, which crosses the Tennessee River.

An autopsy report from the Knox County Regional Forensic Center identifies the two teens as Marico L. Johnson, 18, and Mykel Haddox, 16. According to the report, the teens both drowned after falling approximately 100 feet from the bridge.

The search began after a police pursuit of a car that was believed to be stolen, and officers located a teen who was believed to have been involved in pursuit in the Lake Drive area. The body of one of the teens who remained missing was recovered from the Tennessee River on April 11, and the other teen’s body was recovered on April 13.

In April, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office said all three teens were believed to have been from the Chattanooga area, and the oldest of the three teens was 18-years-old. After the first teen was discovered, he was taken to a hospital with a lacerated and punctured lung. His identity has not been released.

As the search transitioned to a recovery mission for the remaining two teens, Sheriff Jimmy Davis shared that it was believed the teens had jumped over a barrier on the bridge thinking that they were jumping to the other side of the road. However, the bridge that crosses the river is two separate roadways, meaning that if the teens jumped, there was a more than 80-foot drop into the water below.