VT state police find 2 bodies in off-road rural area, sparking homicide investigation
Vermont State Police on Wednesday found two bodies in a wooded area off a rural road in Eden as they investigate the disappearance of two 21-year-old Massachusetts men, police said.
"Right now we're not able to make any identifications or any assumptions," Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police’s criminal division, said during an afternoon press conference. No arrests have been made, he said.
"We are treating it as a homicide," he said. Police expect to get a cause and manner of the deaths as well as identities of the victims on Thursday, after the medical examiner processes the bodies, Trudeau said.
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Jahim Solomon of Pittsfield and Eric White of Chicopee disappeared under "suspicious circumstances" while traveling through several communities, state police said Saturday. They were reported missing on Oct. 15 after falling out of touch with their families for several days, authorities said. They’d previously been in Burlington, Lowell, Morrisville and Stowe, officials said.
Trudeau said Wednesday that he couldn't speculate on the identities of the bodies because police are not exactly sure who they are yet, but said they are certain that this is an isolated incident.
"Part of the investigation led us to this area, and it was an expansive search that came across both of them," he said. The bodies were found just under a mile apart, Trudeau said.
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Police have a number of suspects and people of interest in mind, Trudeau said.
"This is kind of case that involves quite a number of people from the northern Vermont area. ... It's been complicated to actually get a true story or account from many of the people that we've spoken to," Trudeau said. "There's also been a number of people that we're looking for as part of our interview process who we haven't been able to locate probably because they either fled or they're just difficult to find."