Pleasant View Police Department was called Wednesday morning, August 17, with reports of a man’s body found in a cave within the city limits of Pleasant View off Highway 41-A near Marquiss Estates.

The body was identified as 23 year-old Robert Manley, known to friends and family as R.J. Manley’s father discovered his body submerged in water within the cave Manley was known to visit.

Due to the complexities of the investigation Cheatham County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were called for assistance.

Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department and EMS recovered the body from the cave around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The victim’s body was transported to the medical examiner’s office to be autopsied to determine the cause of death.

Chief Tad Wheeler with Pleasant View Police Department stated Thursday morning the cause of death was still undetermined and there wasn’t any new information to be released on the case.

Manley’s body will be released from the medical examiner’s office as soon as an autopsy is performed for burial arrangements.

According to Tennessee Code Annotated 38-7-104 the family and authorities, law enforcement agencies working the case, will receive a completed autopsy report from the medical examiner’s office within 90-days of the autopsy. A preliminary report may be released sooner but the state allows forensic centers in Tennessee a 90-day time period to complete their investigation and testing before releasing the official report.

Investigations requiring further investigation time or testing due to complicated circumstances surrounding the death could be allotted more than 90 days to complete the official report to release to family and law enforcement agencies.

Wheeler stated the case is being treated as a criminal investigation since the cause of death and how the body ended up in the cave is unknown at this time.

Authorities working the criminal investigation are conducting interviews, questioning anyone, who may be able to provide clues or insight into the ongoing investigation.

Friends and family members gathered at the site blocked off for the investigation, supporting the grieving parents, family and each other, told authorities Manley had not been in contact with his family since Sunday.

Manley was a Sycamore High School Graduate and resided in Pleasant View not far from the cave where his body was discovered.

Authorities ask anyone with any information pertaining to this case to contact Pleasant View Police Department at (615) 746-0660, Cheatham County Sheriff’s Department at (615) 792-4341or Ashland City Police Department at (615) 792-5618.

-Tonya Steele

SOURCEI-24 Exchange Newspaper
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I’m a dedicated, fair and objective reporter/journalist currently reporting and writing for the I-24 Exchange Newspaper, circulated and distributed each week to nearly 10000 residential mailboxes, in Northern Cheatham County, Tennessee. My main objective for Cheatham News is to provide current news coverage with a wide range of compelling topics that interest the youth of today, elderly and everyone in between through an online platform. Cheatham News will focus on local and county news including politics, breaking news, community schools, sports, city and county council meetings but there’ll be more the local news. I aspire to focus on what life is like, in our little corner of the world, where my family and I live in a small southern town. The southern sayins’, ole wives tales, recipes and mannerisms are a part of history I’d like to keep alive in the fast paced world of today. It brings me joy to share the uniqueness of life in a small southern town. You can learn more about myself, representatives and sponsors affiliated with Cheatham News and contributing authors biographies and credentials under the ‘About’ tab on the Home Page.