UPDATED, 8:50 p.m. 10/27/21
West Virginia State Police said they have made an arrest in connection with several suspicious devices found on boats in the Ohio River.
Troopers have not released the name of the suspect, but said he was taken into custody in Marietta, Ohio. He is being held in the South Central Regional Jail on probable cause.
Stay tuned to Eyewitness News for more information on this developing story.
UPDATED, 4:20 p.m. 10/26/21
West Virginia State Police said two suspicious devices were found on a towboat on the Ohio River in Wood County.
Last week, a bomb was found aboard a barge on the Ohio River in Pleasants County.
State Police said in a news release Tuesday that Trooper First Class S.S. Michael and Trooper J.S. Schartiger responded about 8:30 p.m. Monday to a possible explosive device found on a towboat on the Ohio River near Williamstown.
Two suspicious devices were located on the boat, and a West Virginia State Police explosive response team responded and safely removed both of the devices.
State Police told Eyewitness News the name of the boat was the Connie K.
Several local, state and federal agencies were also contacted and assisted with the incident.
State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are working together on the investigation.
ORIGINAL STORY
For the second time in less than a week, a suspicious device has been found on a barge/towboat in West Virginia.
The U.S. Coast Guard in Barboursville said it shut down a section of the Ohio River in Wood County between mile markers 170 and 174 after a suspicious device was located.
Coast Guard officials said the section of the river was shut down from 9:15 p.m. Monday to 2 a.m. Tuesday.
More details were not immediately available.
Last week, the sheriff in Pleasants County said a bomb was found aboard a barge in the Ohio River and rendered safe.
The device was spotted Thursday going through a lock and dam.
The barge carried gravel, not hazardous material.
State troopers said the suspicious device appeared to lack all the components needed to explode.