Last Updated Apr 5, 2018 1:19 PM EDT
ATLANTA — A body found in the Chattahoochee River has been identified as missing CDC worker Timothy Cunningham, authorities announced Thursday. Cunningham has been missing since Feb. 12 in Georgia. The 35-year-old left work early that day saying he wasn’t feeling well, and wasn’t seen again.
Cunningham worked as an epidemiologist working in the CDC’s chronic disease unit.
Police previously said there was no evidence of foul play, but that it couldn’t be ruled out.
The Atlanta Police Department, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department will release further details during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Police said Cunningham had been disappointed about being passed over for a promotion in February. But the CDC disputed that, saying that Cunningham been promoted to commander effective July 1 “in recognition of his exemplary performance in the U.S. Public Health Service.”
According to Cunningham’s next-door neighbor, Viviana Tory, Cunningham said something odd to her husband the day he went missing.
“He told my husband to tell his wife — me — to erase his cellphone number from my cellphone,” Tory said.
Cunningham’s parents reported him missing on Feb. 16 after they went to his home and found his belongings and vehicle there.
His cause of death has not been released.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
