Bangor man's body found

[Daryl]

Bangor man's body found Retrieved from http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=161347&zoneid=176

The body of a Bangor man missing since November was found Friday on the banks of the Penobscot River in Waldo County, according to family members and police.

Family members said late Friday they had no doubt the body discovered in Stockton Springs was that of Matt LaCrosse, 25, who was last seen 25 miles up river in downtown Bangor on Nov. 9.

LaCrosse’s identification and other personal items were found on the body.

"The family is as happy as can be expected to get their son back … and to have some closure," Steve DeWitt, LaCrosse’s brother-in-law, said late Friday.

A resident of Morningside Drive in Stockton Springs alerted the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department on Friday after finding the fully clothed body. Bangor police said late Friday that a wallet found on the body contained LaCrosse’s identification cards.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to perform an autopsy on Sunday.

DeWitt said the family had been hoping for closure after it became increasingly clear that LaCrosse likely ended up in the water that night in November.

LaCrosse had been hanging out with friends at Carolina Sports and Spirits in Bangor and was apparently last seen alone outside the bar. Friends and family helped police search for the missing man in the weeks following his disappearance.

But the last evidence of LaCrosse was picked up by a search and rescue dog that followed a scent from the bar to the nearby State Street Bridge over Kenduskeag Stream. Police later said the dog went as far as to go up onto the bridge railing.

Stockton Springs is about 25 miles down river from where the Kenduskeag enters the Penobscot.

DeWitt said the family was extremely grateful to the people who helped with the search as well as those who found the body Friday.

"This is a big step," he said.

DeWitt said the family was still unsure how LaCrosse ended up in the river. They are awaiting the medical examiner’s report.

The family plans a funeral for LaCrosse in the coming weeks, DeWitt said.