A body pulled from an Effingham County pond Wednesday has been identified as that of a man reported missing nearly a year ago.

Hunters discovered the body  of James Tebeau of Springfield in a pond between Old Tusculum Road and Highway 119, and Effingham County Sheriff’s deputies were called out to the scene around 9 a.m. ECSO investigators and members of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department investigated and retrieved the body from the water. The body was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s state crime lab in Savannah.

The pond is not far from where Tebeau was last seen nearly a year ago. Tebeau was last seen in mid February 2011 when family members reported him missing. He was last seen at his residence on Old Tusculum Road wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and white shoes and was said to have suffered from dementia.

The pond where the body was found Wednesday morning is right behind Tebeau’s house. Authorities searched it 11 months ago but did not find anything.

“It’s a huge, murky pond,” said Effingham County Sheriff’s spokesman David Ehsanipoor.

Duck hunters in the pond came across a part of the body and immediately called the ECSO. The pond also has receded greatly since last February.

An autopsy concluded the death was an accidental drowning and not foul play.