A Massachusetts man who went missing in September was found dead on his property over the weekend – in a well that police had told his family he was too large to fit into, his devastated kin say.
The body of Keith McKechnie, 45, was discovered by a family friend inside a well near his home in Avon on Saturday, WBZ News reported.
“They had like a fishing line, and they had a, must have been a water camera or something,” McKechnie’s mother, Karyll McKechnie, told the outlet, referring to those who found her son. “They took pictures, and they said, ‘Something’s down there.’ “
Emergency crews were tasked with extracting the body from the well, local news footage showed.
There were no obvious signs of trauma on the body, and an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, WBZ said.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Karyll said of the situation.
Karyll first reported her son missing shortly after he was last seen Sept. 7, the grieving mother explained to WBZ.
“He left his driver’s license and his Medicare card and everything. And I checked his bank account every week to see if he was taking money out of it, and he wasn’t,” she recalled.
McKechnie’s relatives said they asked police to search the well several times.
“The family made several calls as well as in person and asked them that the well needed to be looked at,” his cousin, Christine Connolly, told NBC10 Boston.
“[Keith’s] glasses were found by the well on the ground. We were told that they had determined due to the size of the well and Keith’s build, he wouldn’t fit,” she explained.
McKechnie’s brother, Adam, told the outlet by text, “I told them he was a large size, and if his body was being concealed, the most likely place to find him would be in the well by the side of the garage where he stays.”
Officers searched the vicinity of the well and even had a K9 in the area that did not pick up his scent, Avon Police Chief Jeffrey Bukunt told WBZ.
The investigators subsequently moved on to other leads, such as reports that McKechnie was spotted at a local homeless shelter.
The Avon Police Department did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment on the case.
McKechnie’s family remembered him as a kind, light-hearted person who struggled with mental illness but had good care at the time of his death, WBZ said.
At the time he went missing, the family warned authorities that McKechnie might be “resistant to being approached,” the Boston Herald reported.
“Keith was my baby, and he was so good. He drove me around. He cooked me dinner every night,” Karyll McKechnie said.
The heartbroken loved ones believe that police should have worked harder to find McKechnie before nearly three months went by.
“I couldn’t believe that they didn’t do more,” Karyll lamented.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey – whose office is leading the probe into McKechnie’s demise – issued condolences to the family shortly after the body was found.
“Our thoughts are very much with the McKechnie family tonight. This is a very sad result,,” Morrissey said Saturday, according to the Boston Herald.