The body of a 62-year-old veteran who was reported missing over one month ago was found in the stairwell of the VA facility where he lived. The man was last seen at the Bedford Veterans Quarters on the campus of the Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Massachusetts, on May 8.
Staff at the Bedford Veterans Quarters, which is run by Caritas Communities, filed a missing person report five days later. The facility is considered an independent-living residence, and staff members do not keep track of residents as they come and go from the facility.
Nearly five weeks later, the man's body was discovered in a stairwell by another patient. The stairway was not considered part of the Veterans Quarters facility and was maintained by the VA.
He was wearing the same clothes he had on when he was last seen, and officials believe he may have been there since May 8. Authorities are awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine how he died.
"We're looking at obviously the circumstances around which he was last seen and looking at the efforts that were made from that day, May 8 until today," Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said. "We are going to be looking at all those circumstances and making an assessment whether appropriate action was taken."
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