Slack, of Bridgeville, was last seen Dec. 6 at a Pittsburgh concert and was last heard from in the early morning hours of Dec. 7 when he spoke with a friend.

For the past six weeks, Slack's family and friends have scoured the city searching for any information about his whereabouts.

His body was recovered during the afternoon of Jan. 23 in the Ohio River, not far from where he was last seen.

Slack's wallet, cellular telephone and cash were recovered with the body, said his uncle, Michael Lowe.

City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police said the body was found near a riverbank between the River Quest docks and the Carnegie Science Center after a River Quest employee spotted the body in the river.

A spokeswoman at the Allegheny County Coroner's office said the cause and manner of death are pending autopsy results.

Police said the investigation continues to determine when, how and where Slack entered the river.

The Slack family was notified by Bridgeville police.

"This is not the first time I've had to do something like that," said Bridgeville police Chief Chad King.

"Every situation is different, even though I felt in this case, the family was expecting this kind of news. It's not easy to bring forth news that an individual's son's remains have been found. It's quite emotional. The initial shockwave has to be dealt with and you have to bear with them and get through it and be prepared to answer any questions they have."

King said notifying family members is part of his role as a police chief and that he had worked with the Slack family during the missing person investigation. He asked Pittsburgh police to notify him day or night if Slack's remains were found.

"There is no easy way of notifying the family," King said.

Lowe received a telephone call as he was traveling to another family emergency in Chicago. He turned around and returned to Bridgeville.

"We were together last night and will be together" Lowe said. "We're devastated. We were hoping for a better resolution, but it's hard to put into words how we feel."

The family has not finalized burial plans or whether charitable donations will be suggested.

"We don't have anything solid right now, we're working on that," Lowe said.

Slack and his uncle shared the same birth date, May 3. Lowe knows it will be a difficult day.

"We miss Jimmy so much, we just sat and talked about him last night," Lowe said. "We want people to know how much we appreciate all the support. Pittsburgh is an amazing community. I've lived in other places around the country and Pittsburghers never ceases to amaze me the way they've responded and helped."

He said when Slack first disappeared so much food arrived at his sister's Bridgeville home there was no place to store the dishes.