Authorities identify Tell City man found dead near Saddle Lake

Authorities have identified the man found dead near Saddle Lake in Perry County as 43-year-old Anthony Evrard of Tell City, and the coroner said the cause and manner of death had not yet been determined. His body was discovered on Memorial Day, May 25, near a boat ramp at the lake outside Cannelton, with his car found parked nearby.

Evrard had been arrested May 22 in Vanderburgh County on a resisting law enforcement charge after deputies were called to the area near 739 Harpy Street around 11:42 p.m. on a report of a man peeking into women’s apartment windows. Deputies said Evrard fled when they arrived, then surrendered after a K-9 unit was deployed.

The Perry County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Police and FBI were all involved in the death investigation. Officials said there was no threat to public safety, but Saddle Lake and Saddle Lake Road were closed during the response before later reopening.

The Perry County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy was done Thursday and lab and toxicology results were still pending. Those findings are expected to be central to answering how Evrard died and whether the death was accidental, natural or involved other factors.

For Perry County residents, the case has unfolded across two counties and left several basic questions unanswered: how Evrard traveled from the Vanderburgh County arrest to Saddle Lake, how long his body had been there before boaters found it, and what connection, if any, exists between the arrest and the death. Until investigators release more findings, the case remains one of the county’s most closely watched death investigations this year.