By Jordan J. Phelan
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BOSCAWEN — Authorities are waiting to learn whether bodies found at a crash site off Route 4 in Salisbury and Boscawen are that of two Newport men who were reported missing by their family earlier this week.
Newport Police Chief Brent Wilmot said in a press release issued early Friday morning that while authorities are still awaiting an official identification by the New Hampshire Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the motorcycle found in a heavily-wooded area matches the one reportedly being driven by Jerry Proper, 69, and his grandson, Cody Pillsbury, 22, who had not been seen since approximately 2 p.m. on Labor Day.
The motorcycle was described by law enforcement as a Honda GL18R1 Trike motorcycle.
Authorities searched by air and ground and received cellular tower data analysis provided by the Civil Air Patrol’s National Cell Phone Forensics Team that ultimately focused their search in an area of Route 4 in Salisbury and Boscawen. Newport Police detectives and Andover Police Chief Joseph Mahoney located the motorcycle late in the afternoon on Thursday, Sept. 10.
The initial investigation indicates that Proper and Pillsbury were riding southbound on the road in Boscawen when they struck a deer. Their motorcycle proceeded to leave the roadway and come to rest in a dense swamp.
The New Hampshire State Police (Aviation Unit, Major Crimes Unit, Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Unit), New Hampshire Fish and Game, United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, Claremont Police Department, New London Police Department, Andover Police Department, Danbury Police Department, Alexandria Police Department, Boscawen Police Department and Merrimack County Sheriff’s Department were all involved. Extensive air and ground searches were conducted by state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as civilian volunteers.
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