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Authorities have opened an investigation into the death of a dismembered man whose body parts were found discarded in a Massachusetts pond, Us Weekly has learned.
Investigators have identified the mutilated man as Peter Degan, who was released from prison on February 6.
Degan, 69, was arrested in 2018 and charged with trafficking and cocaine distribution — charges he pled guilty to in 2019, resulting in a five-year stint inside MCI Shirley, a medium-security state prison.
When Degan was arrested, police said they recovered two kilos of cocaine as well as $750,000 in cash from his residence.
The man was living at a pre-release center in Rockland on February 27, when he was last seen alive. Police said he was reported missing soon after.
One of Degan’s severed legs was located by a group of middle schoolers in Phoenix Pond in Shirley on Wednesday, March 4, according to officials. They were walking along the Veterans Memorial Bridge when they spotted the lopped off appendage floating in the water and called 911.
Responding officers eventually found most of the rest of Degan at the scene, said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
“Those parts appear to have been clean cut; that is, they were severed with a sharp force instrument,” said Ryan during a news conference on Thursday, March 5.
Ryan said efforts are ongoing to recover all of Degan’s parts. Boston 25 reported divers have been spotted in the pond scouring the water for more remains.
Police identified him through his fingerprints, according to detectives.
The Boston Herald spoke to two of those teens — Brett Clapper and Dominic Dunn, both 15 — who discussed making the grisly find. Clapper told the daily paper that he, Dunn and a third friend initially thought the object in the water was part of a mannequin. However, when they took a closer look, they realized it was real.
Clapper said that the leg — which he explained was severed right below the knee — still had a foot attached to it and did not appear to have been in the water long, with no visible signs of decomposition. “It was just messed up,” Clapper reflected.
Police are trying to determine how Degan’s remains ended up in Phoenix Pond. They have said a cause of death remains pending. At this point, they have not discussed a possible motive or any potential suspects or persons of interest.
Shirley Police Chief Samuel Santiago reemphasized that this killing was, in all likelihood, not random.
“I know we have a lot of residents that are concerned,” Santiago said during the Thursday press conference. “I want to assure them that we’re here for you. We’re here to support you, to provide that public safety that we’ve been providing.”
“Members of the public who have any information about Degan or who saw anything suspicious in recent days in the area where his remains were recovered are asked to immediately contact police,” reads a statement from the district attorney.
The Shirley Police can be reached by tipsters at (978) 425-2642.
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