Officials ID man found in canal

BILLINGS — Yellowstone County officials have identified a man whose body was found in a Billings irrigation canal in January.

Sheriff Mike Linder says 63-year-old transient Steven Michael Samples drowned. Linder says there wasn’t any indication of foul play in Samples’ death.

Samples’ body was found on Jan. 14 in the ditch near the Phillips 66 refinery. Assistant Coroner Chad Fehr has said the man had died in mid-October.

Linder says Samples was identified by checking dental records.