No sign of foul play in case of body found in Bend canal

There were no signs of foul play in connection with a body found Friday in a northeast Bend irrigation canal, believed to be a 57-year-old Bend man who had been missing for a week, police said Monday.

Police had confirmed Friday night that the body found in the Juniper Ridge area was tentatively identified as Bernard Paul Crisman, an insulin-dependent diabetic who left his adult foster care home a week earlier on his bike and failed to return. His bike was found last Sunday by an irrigation canal.

An irrigation district worker contacted police around 3:30 p.m. to report the discovery of a body.

Police detectives worked through the weekend on the investigation, and Lt. Clint Burleigh said Monday, “There does not appear to be any signs of criminal activity being associated with the death.”

An autopsy has been conducted, Burleigh said, but the results are not yet available, and there is no official cause of death at this time.

Crisman last was seen around 3 p.m. on Friday, July 31, when he left his adult foster care home at 1624 Northeast Wells Acres Road, where he could come and go as he pleased, said Lt. Nick Parker said last Tuesday, when police asked the public for help in finding him.

Crisman was an insulin-dependent diabetic and he left the home without his medication, and with little money, the lieutenant said, adding, “It is out of the ordinary that Crisman has not returned to his residence or checked in by phone.”

Crisman was associated with a black and blue Mongoose mountain bike, which was found Sunday along the Central Oregon Irrigation District canal east of Northeast Boyd Acres Road, Parker said.