The human remains found by a hiker and his dog in the Berkshire mountains over the weekend have been identified as a woman who’s been missing since October 2023, the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Susan Lockwood, 66, had not been seen since Oct. 30, 2023, according to a post shared by the Lenox Police Department on Facebook. Though her car was found on Reservoir Road in Lenox and her hat was on a nearby trail, multiple police searches through the difficult landscape with K-9 units did not locate her.
But on Friday, Feb. 9, a man was hiking with his dog on a trail on Lenox Mountain when they made a chilling discovery, the district attorney’s office said.
The hiker’s dog had run off the trail to sniff something in the woods and he stepped off to follow, the office said.
The man noticed a hiking boot with evidence of human remains inside when he got to his dog, the office said. The hiker reported their discovery, and troopers from multiple units arrived at a Richmond trailhead to the mountain that day.
The officers were able to find the hiking boot and turned it over to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, noting it was found near where previous searches for Lockwood had been conducted.
Though State Police and Berkshire Mountain Search and Rescue volunteers’ search on Feb. 11 was unsuccessful in finding further evidence, law enforcement returned to Lenox Mountain the next day.
A trooper and his K-9 partner were searching near a cliff of the mountain on Monday, Feb. 12, the district attorney’s office said, when the police dog alerted the officer.
The trooper looked toward the bottom of the cliff and saw clothing and more human remains, the office said.
When they got to the bottom, the police unit discovered a fully intact skull, other remains and personal items, the office said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was able to positively identify the remains as Lockwood’s based off dental records, the district attorney’s office said.
The district attorney’s office has been in contact with Lockwood’s husband, and offered its condolences to Lockwood’s loved ones.
The office thanked and acknowledged eight different law enforcement and emergency response units for helping locate Lockwood and for their involvement throughout the entire search.
Lockwood’s cause and manner of death is still undetermined, though the district attorney’s office said foul play is not suspected.
The initial missing persons bulletin pushed by the Lenox Police Department had stated Lockwood had a history of depression, and her phone found at home had recent searches of “suicidal ideations.”
