Officials searching for a Vermont man who had been missing for more than a week say they found a body in a reservoir this weekend, bringing an end to a search that began when the 59-year-old didn't show up to work.
Vermont State Police, who had been investigating the disappearance of Matthew Housekeeper, say they were notified Saturday morning of an object floating in the Sherman Reservoir.
Around 9:47 a.m., responding authorities located a floating body that matched the description of Housekeeper, who went missing 10 days earlier. The man's body was sent to the chief medical examiner's office for an autopsy and formal identification.
A day earlier, on Friday, police were notified that two fishermen had located a blue and white kayak that was believed to belong to Housekeeper, of Bennington. The kayak had actually been located by the fishermen on the Sherman Reservoir more than a week earlier, on Thursday, Aug. 15, at which point the fishermen removed it from the water believing that it was just abandoned property. Once they learned that the kayak was actually connected to the still missing Housekeeper, the fishermen provided it to law enforcement, according to police, who added that crews were continuing with a limited search of the reservoir as part of their ongoing investigation.
Housekeeper had not been seen or heard from since the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 14. He was first reported missing when he failed to show up at work on Thursday, Aug. 15. His vehicle, a white 2023 Subaru Crosstrek was found abandoned around 11:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16, in the vicinity of 2445 Tunnel St. in Whitingham, near the Sherman Reservoir.
Troopers had responded to the area with crews, including an underwater recovery team and a K9 search and rescue team, to search for Housekeeper multiple times.
Saturday, state police thanked all of the agencies that assisted in the search for Housekeeper, including Massachusetts State Police, the Rowe, Mass. police department, the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, Rescue Inc., and the New England K9 Search and Rescue.
