I would guess it was an anti, who didn't want you catching anymore beavers. They couldn't do anything for the dead beaver, so they left it. Like Treefrog88, I suspect your trap is in the water nearby.

Keith

Carl I have not been on the river, I’m just trapping the filberts. Good luck though.

wws

I would try geting a fishing magnate and run it through the area. This is how I recovered my rifel when I flipped my kayak busting through ice checking beaver traps. I ordered the magnate took 2 weeks to come in but recovered the rifle on 3rd cast/throw. Took a while for the swelling of the stock to go back to normal I didn't think it would.