The identity of a body recovered from the Yukon River Tuesday evening should be known later today, Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward said this morning.

Milward said police received a call of a body floating in the river shortly after 6 p.m., in the area along First Avenue across from the Riverview Hotel.

'The body has obviously been in the water for some time but we will not be able to say for how long until after the autopsy,' he said.

Milward said officers in the identification unit may have an idea who the deceased was. They are hoping to use fingerprint records to confirm the identity for sending the body down south for an autopsy.

The autopsy will also help determine the cause of death, Milward said.

He said no identification was found on the body.

Eyewitness accounts suggest the body was discovered amid the old pilings for the riverboat docks.

Police have confirmed the body is that of an adult male.