VALDOSTA — A body was discovered Thursday afternoon along the Withlacoochee River near the Lowndes-Brooks county line off of Highway 84, said Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk.

Sheriff’s investigators were removing the body from the scene Thursday evening, Paulk said. It will be transported to Macon where medical examiners will perform an autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, the sheriff said.

The body appears to be that of a white male, Paulk said; the body has likely been at the site for a while; decomposition had already begun. A shirt and socks were found near the body.

Authorities have no clue as to an identity and Paulk said there are no missing person reports for either county.

Shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday, July 13, employees on an eastbound CSX train noticed the body across the river in an estuary, the sheriff said.

The investigation continues.