Human skeletal remains that were found Tuesday morning near a high school in Wakefield, Massachusetts, belong to a man who has been missing since May 2020, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office confirmed Saturday night.
The remains of Patrick Shea were found by a work crew in wooded wetlands between the Wakefield Memorial High School tennis courts and Rivers Lane at about 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Family members first told NBC10 Boston on Saturday that the remains were those of Shea. The district attorney later confirmed the news.
The DA said no further information is being released at this time.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The 66-year-old Wakefield man went missing on May 4 2020, when he was last seen near his home, in the area of Wakefield Square/Main Street.
At the time of his disappearance, Shea's niece, Shannah Lew, had been posting on social media as part of the family's search for her uncle, and said Shea reported not felling well prior to going missing. Lew also shared at the time that her uncle may be confused and disoriented, and needed his medicine.
A nonprofit group posted on Facebook Saturday night that Shea's family had also confirmed he was found dead this week.
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office initially said Wednesday that the remains found were human, but it wasn't immediately clear how old they were.
Wakefield police said at the time that there was no threat to the school.
