Revere Beach Remains ID'd as Cambridge Man

A family finally has some closure after unidentified human remains found two years on Revere Beach have been matched to a previously missing Cambridge man.

Investigators hit on a DNA match in a national missing and unidentified persons database, conclusively identifying the man, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

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The man was 31 at the time of his death. He had ties to Oklahoma, but had most recently lived in Cambridge. The man's death is not considered suspicious, so his identity is not being released.

The man had been missing since 2013. He had written a letter to his family saying he was “going off the grid” and that his family “would not see [him] again," according to a release by the DA's office.

A passerby discovered the man's remains on the morning of April 30, 2014 in the shallow waters along the Revere Beach shoreline. State Police then recovered them.

The remains were in such condition that even the man's ethnicity could not be determined; his age was thought to be between 20 and 40.

According to officials, the man was found wearing American Eagle brand blue jeans, a black, braided, leather belt, and very distinctive boxer shorts that had Volkswagen Beetle images on them.

Police released images of the belt and boxer shorts and a year later received a tip with the man's name. Troopers then contacted the state's National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, which got a DNA sample from the man's father in Utah. The DNA was a match.

“Receiving news of a family member’s death is always a painful task,” Conley said. “But with their years of waiting and wondering at an end, I hope this man’s loved ones can take some comfort knowing that their son and brother is at peace. I’m grateful to the State troopers, the NamUs personnel, and especially the Good Samaritan tipster involved in this investigation who helped bring answers to this young man’s family.”