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Man charged after body found in basement of Worcester home

WORCESTER, Mass. — A Worcester man has been charged after the body of 68-year-old Marcelino Mueces was found in the basement of a home.

Thomas Garon, 53, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a warrant and charged with disinterment of a body, identity theft, and misleading a police investigation.

Mueces, a beloved father and grandfather, was reported missing on Feb. 19. Police said on Feb. 26, they located Mueces' vehicle on Villa Nova Street. Investigators towed the vehicle to the Worcester Police Department for processing.

Then, Worcester detectives obtained a search warrant for a house at 24 Penn Ave.

On Saturday, while executing the search warrant, investigators uncovered human remains in the basement. The body was identified as that of Mueces.

"This is a guy who calls his daughters every 2 hours when they get out of school, and calls me every 2 hours," said Yolanda Lopez, Mueces' wife of 6 years.

Mueces, who had seven children and seven grandchildren, was a happy man who always wanted to make everyone laugh, said Lopez.

"I use to tell him, his teeth are going to fall down because you laugh so much. Didn’t like fights or arguments," she said.

On Feb. 18, hours before his birthday, he never came home from work, she said.

Mueces worked at Santiago's supermarket in Worcester in the shipping and receiving department.

Police say someone cashed his last paycheck and his body was found in the basement of the Penn Avenue home, where Garon lives.

"They took out a lot of buckets, duffle bags. They were here for days," said Alaracelis Torres, Garon's neighbor.

Police say Mueces did suffer from injuries.

"They found a shallow grave. They found his remains," said Worcester Police Lt. Sean Murtha.

Murtha said the disinterment body charge Garon is facing "is for moving the body from place to place."

"We believe he cashed the check that Mr. Mueces had on him from work," Murtha said.

Mueces' family cried as they are trying to cope with his sudden death.

"Why? Why? He wouldn’t even raise his voice," Lopez cried.

His last paycheck was supposed to be for his children.

"He also had a piggy bank that he was going to cash because his twin daughters' sweet 15 birthday was March 1," Lopez said.

Garon was expected to be arraigned in Worcester District Court on Wednesday morning.

Autopsy results are pending to determine the cause and manner of death.

The family says they want to bring his remains back to their native Dominican Republic.

Anyone with information about the incident can send a text to 274637 (TIPWPD), send a web message at worcesterma.gov/police, or call detectives at 508-799-8651.