Body chained

 preliminary investigation indicates that the person found today in the Charles River near the Boston University Bridge was bound with chains and weighted down by a cinderblock, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the person was a victim of foul play or whether something else led to the death, including suicide, the official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office, Jake Wark, said in a statement, “It is far too early to make a determination as to manner of death, and reports indicating that the individual was the victim of a homicide are premature.”
Wark said his office also would not release “details on evidence at the scene in the early stages of any death investigation. When it’s appropriate to release further information, we will do so.”
According to State Police and prosecutors, a Boston University rowing coach spotted the body in the water today around 7:25 a.m.
Officials said the body’s gender and approximate age are not yet available. A cause of death will be established by the state medical examiner’s office after an autopsy.
It was the second body to be found in the area in as many days. On Sunday, the body of a 62-year-old man was found near the Boston University boathouse. His name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, and authorities have said they do not consider his death to be suspicious.
State Police said the man had been treated Sunday in Cambridge Hospital after sustaining injuries from falling on the sidewalk. He was intoxicated at the time, and police said he might have been homeless. He was treated and released a few hours later.
The discovery of the second body comes as friends and relatives of graduate student Jonathan Dailey continue a painful vigil, hoping to locate the graduate student who left his Allston apartment about a week ago and has not been seen since.
Dailey, 23, is a student at the Boston Architectural College and was described by his family as an Eagle Scout and risk-taker. But Dailey always maintained contact with his family, relatives said.
Jonathan Dailey’s roommate, a long-time friend, said the discovery of the body today had put the missing student’s friends on edge.
“There hasn’t been any sort of confirmation on anything, but obviously we are deeply concerned about it,” said Miles Smith, 23, speaking before the revelation that the body was considered to be a homicide victim.
Smith said it would be out of character for Dailey to simply disappear on his own volition without notifying anyone. “We bond over indulging in adventures,” Smith said in a telephone interview. “He’s an Eagle Scout and we both love adventure, but we always prepare.”
Smith said the last time he and Dailey went on such an adventure was several weeks ago, to Maine. They visited a gorge where they camped, swam, and cliff-dived. The last time he saw Dailey was the evening of Oct. 2 in their Allston apartment, after Dailey came home from work.
Dailey had a slice of pizza and sat down with Smith to watch an episode of “The Office.” They chatted about how their day went and then Smith went to bed at about 9 p.m.
Dailey worked as a sales associate at American Apparel on Brattle Street. Dailey and Smith obtained undergraduate degrees in architecture from Appalachian State University in North Carolina.
They were in their second year at the Boston Architectural College, but both are currently taking a semester off. Smith described Dailey as very creative and intelligent, with an eccentric side.
“I’ve been putting my emotional indulgences aside to organize volunteers to search for him and we’ve been keeping busy 24 hours a day,’’ Smith said.
Dailey was last seen wearing a button-down shirt and white shorts. He is 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo of a black stripe on his left bicep.