NEW BERLIN - "He was very loving, caring. The type of person that had a very good heart." That's how Steve Volp hopes everyone remembers his son Eric.

Eric Volp, 28, was reported missing in October 2008.

On Thursday, investigators in northeastern Wisconsin said they had positively identified a body found in a Marinette County creek on Monday as Eric Volp.

Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said Volp died an unnatural death that could be classified as suspicious.

Volp moved to Iron Mountain, Michigan in December 2008. The New Berlin Eisenhower High School grad disappeared last October, after he left a bar in Iron Mountain.

His body was found 20 miles away.

"The body was lying in about two-and-a half feet of water," said Kanikula. "There were more than just skeletal remains but to tell you how long that body was there, I wouldn't even venture to guess."

Dental records and a tattoo helped identify the body. Investigators are calling the death suspicious. They say the body had significant trauma.

"No one walks into a creek and dies like that," said Sheriff Kanikula.

And as they wait for more information on how Eric died, his father says at least now, they have some closure: "We feel fortunate that he has been found and we're glad that we will have him back with us and that we can lay him to rest."

Investigators plan to release Eric's body to his family sometime next week.