The body of a man discovered Sunday in Merrymeting Bay is likely that of a Brunswick man last seen May 22.

Police told Susan Pye that tattoos and other identifying features on the body match those of her ex-husband, John Pye, 34, of Brunswick.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office is to perform an autopsy on the body today, she said.

“We’re pretty sure, about 99.9 percent, that it’s John,” Susan Pye said. “But police say they need to check for DNA and had come to the house to collect one of his razors and his cellphone.”

Brunswick Town Manager Gary Brown happened to be the boater who found the body Sunday, which was the first time he and his wife made the trip across Merrymeeting Bay in their 21-foot boat.

As they usually do this time of year, he said they were searching for any new obstacles in the water, and were not quite to Pleasant Point in Topsham “and we saw something in the water and wanted to see what it was; see if it was something we had to avoid, and unfortunately what we found was” a body floating on top of the water.

The first pass with the boat, they weren’t able to identify what it was, but on the second pass, “it was apparent what we found,” Brown said.

“It’s unsettling, to be sure. You don’t know what the circumstances are, so we dialed 911.”

Merrymeeting Bay is at the confluence of several rivers: the Androscoggin, Kennebec, Eastern, Abagadasset, Cathance and Muddy rivers.

So where they were exactly when they found the body is hard to pinpoint, Brown said. The body was pulled from the water near Brick Island in Bowdoinham.

Susan Pye credited police with communicating during the ordeal, giving her updates when she’s called to inquire as to whether they or any agencies had seen her ex-husband, who she’s known for six years.

The two were married for about six years, divorcing about a month and a half ago.

She acknowledge he had a drinking problem, which changed him.

When he was sober, “he was the best guy you could ever want to be with,” she said.

Pye is the father of 8- and 13-year-old boys and has their names tattooed on his back and arm.

The last day she saw him, Susan Pye said, “he was sober and he told me he loved me and kissed me goodbye and went out the door. … I just felt he had given up and was going back to town to have a drink.”