Remains found near high school identified as man missing over a year, MA officials say

A crew of workers were surveying wetlands near a Massachusetts high school when they found human skeletal remains, officials said.

The remains were identified as a man who was reported missing over a year ago, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

On Dec. 7, surveyors found what they believed to be skeletal remains in the woods behind Wakefield High School and told local police.

The medical examiner identified the remains as 68-year-old Patrick Shea, a Wakefield man who was reported missing in May 2020, the district attorney said.

The Wakefield Police Department said May 12, 2020, that Shea’s family wasn’t able to get in contact with him after he left his home.

He was last seen May 6, 2020, according to police. Officials said he had a “recent display of confusion and disorientation.”

“The preliminary investigation did not indicate foul play,” the district attorney said in a Dec. 13 news release. “A ruling on the cause and manner of death is still pending.”

Wakefield is about 15 miles north of Boston.

This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Remains found near high school identified as man missing over a year, MA officials say."