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Dismembered human remains found in Shirley identified as 69-year-old man
“They were able to recover additional body parts from the water. Those parts appear to have been clean cut."
Dismembered human remains found in Shirley have been identified as those of a 69-year-old man, according to prosecutors, who suspect foul play.
The victim was identified as Peter Degan, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Degan was most recently living in a pre-release house in Rockland after pleading guilty to charges related to cocaine trafficking in Suffolk County in 2019, Ryan said. He was last seen alive last Friday.
A group of young people found what they thought was a human leg as they were walking over a bridge in the area of Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge Wednesday evening, Ryan said. Police responded and confirmed the remains were a human leg.
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“Preliminary information” indicates that foul play was involved, and an investigation is ongoing, police said. Shirley police, as well as State Police troopers assigned to the DA’s office and MSP’s Underwater Recovery Unit, began to search the area.
“They were able to recover additional body parts from the water. Those parts appear to have been clean cut. That is, they were severed with a sharp force instrument,” Ryan said. “We did not recover a full body. The search is continuing for additional body parts, but we were able to make an identification from the body parts that were recovered.”
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Degan was identified using his fingerprints, Ryan said. He served at least some of his sentence at MCI-Shirley and was released to the pre-release house in Rockland where he was living. Prosecutors do not believe his death is random.
Anyone who saw Degan since last Friday or saw anything suspicious in the area of the bridge or Samson Pond should contact authorities.
“We need the public’s help to determine what occurred here today,” Shirley Police Chief Samuel Santiago said. “I know we have a lot of residents that are concerned, and I want to assure them that we’re here for you. We’re here to support you, to provide you with that public safety that we’ve been providing.”
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