OKMULGEE, Okla. — The Medical Examiner’s Office is working to confirm the identities of four bodies found in a river in rural Okmulgee on Friday.

Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice confirmed Friday night that the bodies of four men were recovered from Deep Fork River, just southwest of Okmulgee.

“No identifications have been made at the scene and the Medical Examiner’s Office in Tulsa for autopsy,” said Prentice in a statement.

Okmulgee Police were joined by multiple other agencies, including Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), in the recovery operation of these remains. Prentice said a passerby called police around 2 p.m. Friday to report something in the water. When officers arrived, the human remains were discovered in the river.

Prentice held a press conference at the Okmulgee Police Station around 4:00 p.m. Friday to confirm that these remains had been found. This discovery came just five days after four men disappeared in Okmulgee Sunday evening.

“The families of Mark Chastain, Billy Chastain, Alex Stevens and Mike Sparks have been notified. At this time, we cannot make an ID, but out of respect we let the families know before it was officially announced,” he said at the press conference earlier Friday.

Jessica Chastain, Mark Chastain’s wife, told FOX23 the process has been exhausting.

“I’ve cried so much I just don’t have [any] tears left. I’m drained,” she said.

She said when she first reported her husband missing, she didn’t feel she was taken seriously by police.

“Now look where we’re at. Nobody believed me. My husband wouldn’t just take off from me and his kids,” she said.

Jessica Chastain said she was one of the first people to hear these remains had been found Friday. She said she has a feeling the bodies in the river are connected to her husband’s case.

“I know it’s them,” she said. “I just, I know.”

Despite the unanswered questions, she said she’s trying to hold onto hope.

“I was heartbroken,” she said. “But then I think, what if that’s not him? What if he’s still out there?”

Jessica Chastain continued, “We won’t know for sure until they tell us it’s 100 percent him.”

The search for the four missing men will not be suspended until they are found, or the remains are identified.

“We‘re not stopping anything completely until we know these men are found,” Prentice said.

This is a developing story. Download the FOX23 News App to receive updates as they happen.

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