The police say a body "fitting the description" of Steven Tomaselli, of Warwick, who owns Speed's Diesel, in Warren, was found about a mile north of his shop. He was reported missing March 28.

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 26, 2006

BY RICHARD SALIT
Journal Staff Writer

BARRINGTON -- The police pulled a body from the Palmer River on Monday night and suspect it is a Warren boat mechanic who disappeared a month ago when screams were heard near his waterfront shop. But until an autopsy is conducted, his death remains a mystery.

Steven Tomaselli, 53, of Warwick, had not been seen since March 27, when he was at work at his Water Street business, Speed's Diesel Service, according to Warren police.

The shop is on the Warren River, south of where the waterway splits, at Tyler Point, into the Barrington and Palmer rivers. The body "fitting the description" of Tomaselli was recovered a mile north of Speed's, said Warren Chief Thomas D. Gordon.

A resident saw the body drifting in the water near the shore off Wallis Avenue around 7 p.m. and called the police, said Barrington Chief John M. LaCross. The body was recovered and Warren detectives were summoned to the scene, he said.

Gordon would not comment on whether there were any obvious signs of injury. He said the state medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy, but he didn't know when his department would receive the results.

When asked if the police had developed any additional information since Tomaselli's disappearance, Gordon would say only that "the investigation has been ongoing since the day we first received the missing person report."

Tomaselli, who lived in Warwick with his ailing mother and was the father of a grown daughter, was reported missing by his family on March 28.

The police said Tomaselli was last seen the day before, around 7 p.m. at his shop. Around that time, screaming was heard in the area by a Barrington man, on the opposite bank of the Warren River from Speed's. People at nearby Blount Seafood also said they heard screams, but thought they came from a passing boat. Two officers responded to the reports of screaming, but finding nothing out of the ordinary, presumed the sounds were from an animal.

Tomaselli's car was found parked at the shop. A search of the river by the police and the Coast Guard was fruitless.

Members of Tomaselli's immediate family could not be reached for comment yesterday.

rsalit@projo.com / (401) 277-7467