SHIRLEY, Mass. — Officials have provided an update after body parts were found inside a pond in Shirley.
On Thursday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, joined by Shirley Police Chief Samuel Santiago and others, held a press conference at the police department.
They revealed that a group of young people walking in the area of the Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge in Shirley around 5:30 p.m. called the Shirley Police Department to report what “appeared to be something consistent with a body part in the water.”
DA Ryan confirmed that the body part “was, in fact, a human leg.” First responders continued to search the pond overnight, where additional body parts were discovered.
“Those parts appeared to be clean cut, that is, they were severed with a sharp force instrument,” Ryan added.
“Based upon the preliminary information, foul play is suspected,” authorities noted on Thursday.
A full body was not recovered; however, all body parts came from the same person, and authorities were able to identify the victim based on the human remains found as 69-year-old Peter Degan.
Peter Degan was last known to be living in a halfway house in Rockland.
Degan was arrested in 2018 after Revere police conducted a search warrant on his home. There, authorities found over two kilos of cocaine and $725,000 in US currency.
Degan completed his sentence and was last seen alive on Friday, February 27.
A Boston 25 photographer spotted divers entering Phoenix Pond on Thursday morning, as well as many police cruisers lining the street.
The DA’s office, Shirley police, state police detectives, and troopers assigned to the underwater recovery unit are investigating.
They ask that anyone with information contact the Shirley Police Department.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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