The death of a northern Indiana tattoo shop owner whose body was found in a 55-gallon barrel in the St. Joseph River has been ruled a homicide.

The Elkhart County Coroner has identified the man as 44-year-old Mark Miller. He was reported missing September 7th when family last saw him at his tattoo shop in Dunlap, five miles south of Elkhart.

Workers removing logs from the river Thursday afternoon saw the barrel, which had a label that reading "chemicals," in the river.