The body of a Lynn teen who has been missing since last Friday has been found in Walden Pond on the Saugus/Lynnfield line, officials said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Brian Lopez, 17, has been missing since Friday evening, according to the Lynn police department. His family stated that the teenager spends a good deal of time in the Lynn Woods.
After Lopez’s phone was found discarded on Gardiner Street in Lynn, police initiated an investigation and a search into his whereabouts, Lynn police chief Christopher P. Reddy said.
On Sunday, local first responders and community groups organized searches for Lopez in Lynn Woods, which included drones, ATVs, bicycles and several dogs, in hopes of finding the Lynn teenager, Reddy added.
But after “several young men” who sought to go fishing at Walden Pond discovered a body in the water Tuesday, they notified the Saugus police. Law enforcement later tentatively identified the body as Lopez through clothes and personal accessories, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon near the Army Barracks.
Tucker added that there is no threat to the public at this time and that he does not believe anyone else was involved in Lopez’s disappearance. As for now, officials are waiting to hear back from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Law enforcement is also in the process of recovering the body, Reddy said.
Lopez was last seen on surveillance video leaving his home, headed toward Lynn Woods, CBS News reported. A witness who saw the footage said they saw Lopez in the woods.
