GLOUCESTER Co., Va. - The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office said that a body found while searching for 67-year-old Thomas Matthews, who went missing Monday morning, has been identified as Matthews.
Matthews was last seen wearing blue jeans, a gray & olive green hoodie jacket with dark colored work boots and a blue ball cap.
"During the expanded area search yesterday, K9 teams from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and GCSO Investigators discovered a deceased male located within the Woods Mill Swamp not far from where Mr. Matthews went missing," a Facebook post from the sheriff's office read. "At the time of the discovery, investigators with the Sheriff’s Office could not positively identify the subject as Mr. Matthews. However, as of this afternoon, the Medical Examiner’s Office has been able to identify the man as Thomas Matthews positively."
The GCSO say they worked exhaustively, Monday and Tuesday, with Hampton Police's K-9 Unit, Virginia Marine Police, York Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, York County Fire and Life Safety and the Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service, searching the heavily wooded Adner area surrounding Matthew’s home where he was last seen.
The varying teams searched over 500 square acres, nearly a 1-mile radius of forest, within the relevant area.
Matthews' cause and manner of death are still under investigation; however, the sheriff's office said on Facebook that nothing has been noted as suspicious in this case.
