Authorities have shared few details about the investigation into the death of a Portland man whose body was found wrapped in blankets in the back seat of a car parked outside of a Massachusetts hospital over the weekend.
As of Wednesday, no one had been arrested in connection with the death of Declan Perry, 27, according to Beth Stone, a spokesperson for the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
The owners of The Grill Room & Bar in Portland said in a phone call Tuesday that Perry was the restaurant’s head chef.
Authorities have said Perry was found dead Saturday in a Honda Civic with Maine license plates that was parked in front of the emergency room entrance at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts. According to a news release from the district attorney’s office on Monday, Perry’s body was found wrapped in “multiple blankets secured with duct tape” and investigators had identified a “person of interest” who knew him.
Stone said in an email Wednesday that Perry’s death is “considered suspicious due to the manner in which the victim was found, and the trauma.” She would not provide further information about Perry’s death or the person of interest, including whether police have made contact with the person, but said the public is not at risk.
“The investigation is active and ongoing, and at this juncture, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further,” Stone said in the email.
She said investigators in the district attorney’s office are awaiting results from the Massachusetts medical examiner’s office. Perry’s cause and manner of death are still pending and autopsy results can take up to 90 days, according to a spokesperson for the medical examiner’s office on Wednesday.
The Massachusetts State Police would not provide information about the investigation when reached Wednesday. A spokesperson for the department referred questions to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.
Residents in Scituate, Massachusetts, about 15 miles from the hospital, reported to police that they had seen a man “carrying a large, heavy blanket into the black Honda Civic at their neighbor’s residence earlier Saturday,” according to the news release from the district attorney’s office on Monday.
Investigators searched the home, located in a condominium complex near the coast, and “seized several items of evidence,” the release said.
Scituate police Chief Mark Thompson declined to comment Wednesday.
Maine State Police are not involved in the investigation, according to spokesperson Shannon Moss. Brad Nadeau, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Department, declined to say whether Portland police are involved and referred questions to authorities in Massachusetts.
