The out-of-place manatee, first seen the weekend of October 21-22, 2006, when fishermen spotted it in Wolf River Harbor, near Memphis, has been found dead.

According to the Associated Press:

Police spokesman Sgt. Vince Higgins said the manatee was discovered around 1:30 p.m. CDT (1930 GMT) [on Monday, December 11, 2006] at Lake McKellar, off the Mississippi River south of Memphis.

Cryptomundo reader Lou Jackson also sends info from the more detailed article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal for December 12, 2006. It notes the specifics of how the dead animal was found, on the north bank of the lake, about a mile off the Mississippi main channel:

They had seen alligators nearby this year, so the crew of the towboat Mary Wepfer made a point of checking out the pinkish-brown orb they noticed lying along the bank of McKellar Lake Monday morning.

A grim realization sank in as they approached.

As you got up close, you could tell what it was,” pilot Clyde Kitchin said.

In a discovery that dashed the hopes of wildlife officials and animal-lovers across the Mid-South, the towboat crew had found the corpse of the manatee that had wandered up the Mississippi River to Memphis earlier this fall.

There were no wounds on the manatee; it does not appear to have been hit by a boat. But it was undersized, although no exact cause of death is yet known. The Memphis Zoo will conduct a necropsy, although hopes of finding out much information are slim.

The Commercial Appeal sums up the sad story:

At the time the manatee disappeared, wildlife officials voiced hope that it would migrate far enough back down the Mississippi from Memphis to reach warm water.

On Monday, it became clear the animal never left the city’s welcoming — but ultimately fatal — embrace.