Authorities ID human remains recovered after property search
METHUEN, Mass. (AP) — Officials on Friday identified the human remains recovered in Massachusetts following a multi-day search.
The FBI’s Boston office said the remains belong to Zakhia Charabati, a 52-year-old Manchester, New Hampshire resident reported missing by his family on Mar. 14.
The agency said the buried remains were located after a four-month investigation. The FBI said Charabati’s family has been notified and is requesting privacy.
“Although not the result they were hoping for, we are pleased to have assisted in bringing them some much-needed closure,” Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston office said in a statement. “Investigative efforts to pursue those responsible for Mr. Charabati’s death will continue.”
The agency said the remains were located late Thursday afternoon at the back of a property in Methuen, Massachusetts near the New Hampshire state line that includes a storage facility.
They were turned over to the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which positively identified the remains and conducted DNA analysis.
The Methuen and Lawrence police departments, Massachusetts State Police and the Manchester Police Department in New Hampshire were also involved in the recovery.
The agencies had been searching the property for about three days. They were digging in a large lot near a wooded area using a backhoe.