Marblehead and Salem police are at the scene of a body discovered on a beach at the end of Edgemere Road on Salem Harbor.
Ellie Tomlinson found the body around 4 p.m. while walking her golden retriever. Her waterfront house abuts the beach entrance where she discovered the body.
CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD
When Tomlinson came across the body, she thought it was a Halloween decoration.
“I had to do a double take,” she told the Marblehead Current outside her home. “I then saw a scarf.”
She didn’t want to use her cell phone because it was too loud with the water and wind.
“I ran into the house and called 911,” Tomlinson said. “My dog was still on the beach and wouldn’t go up with me.”
The Current has obtained a photo of a skeleton — decomposed but largely intact — on the beach, but has chosen not to publish it out of respect for the deceased.
Additional police officers arrived on the scene around 5:15 p.m. They began snapping photos and gathering evidence.
In the evening, Marblehead Police Chief Dennis King reported the body appeared to have been in the water for “a significant amount of time.”
In early January, local and state police divers searched for a Maine man in his 30s in the water off of Juniper Beach in Salem. He has been missing since Dec. 11, according to the Peabody Police Department.
Salem Police Capt. John Burke said “it’s a possibility” that the body that washed ashore Thursday could be connected, but he said everything is under investigation.
At around 5:30 p.m., two vehicles from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner arrived on scene.
In his evening statement, King said Marblehead detectives are conducting the investigation with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office and Salem Police detectives.
This is a developing story. Stay with the Current as more details come in.
Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist who has written hundreds of stories for local newspapers, including the Marblehead Reporter. She also works as a PR specialist.
