(NEXSTAR/WWLP) – No foul play is suspected in the case of the “wrapped” deceased body that was pulled from the ocean by a fishing crew off the coast of Massachusetts last week, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
Authorities in Massachusetts had initially launched an investigation into the incident on Friday after a fishing vessel about 40 miles off the state’s coast reported finding the body in its fishing nets. The remains were discovered to be “wrapped and in a state of decomposition” and later transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston.
A representative for the medical examiner’s office told Nexstar on Monday that it could take 90 days to determine any cause of death. But by Tuesday, the DA’s office had gotten word from the medical examiner that the case was likely not as suspicious as it may have seemed.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner informed our office today that the body caught Thursday in a fishing boat’s nets 40 miles off the Massachusetts coast is a female in the 60-year age range with numerous cancerous tumors, no indications of foul play, and unlikely to be identified,” the DA’s office said in a statement shared with Nexstar.
“The body had been embalmed and appeared consistent with a burial at sea. We consider this matter non-suspicious and closed.”
Burial at sea in Massachusetts is subject to strict regulations, which stipulate how the body must be prepared and where it may be buried. Non-cremated remains must be buried at least three miles from shore, according to Mass.gov, the state’s official government website. But the body must also be buried in waters at least 600 feet deep, which are “typically” found much farther out — between 25 and 75 miles, the website says.
“The body must also be weighted down to sink quickly and permanently,” the site explains.