Human Remains Found Near Mount Pocono Believed to Be Missing Bethlehem Man

Human remains found in a wooded area near the Mount Pocono Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility on March 8 are believed to be those of Matthew Thompson, 43, a Bethlehem resident who had been missing since mid-February. The Monroe County Coroner's Office pronounced Thompson dead on the scene at 1:30 p.m. that Sunday, and the coroner subsequently confirmed the remains were his. Bethlehem Police noted that preliminary observations did not reveal "any clear or apparent signs of foul play," with cause and manner of death listed as pending ahead of a scheduled autopsy on March 10.

Thompson's wife, Joselyn Burgos, had filed the missing-person report on February 15 at roughly 8:30 a.m., telling investigators she had last seen him around 9 a.m. on February 13. That morning, Thompson had driven to Tobyhanna to complete a real estate transaction connected to a planned move. His cellphone went dark that afternoon. Later that evening, his vehicle was towed from a private road, and investigators learned he had attempted to request an Uber but left the pickup area before the driver arrived. The last confirmed image of Thompson came from surveillance cameras on the unit block of Fork Street in Mount Pocono.

Burgos had described her husband as a disabled Navy veteran living with PTSD and bipolar disorder. "He wasn't involved in anything weird," she said during the search. "It's just a disabled veteran who has a mental illness, probably is missing, is disoriented, or is probably injured." She had publicly appealed for people to focus on finding him alive.

Investigators acknowledged early in the case that there was a "significant possibility" Thompson may have already been deceased before the missing-person report was even filed. Within hours of receiving that report, Bethlehem Police checked hospitals, correctional facilities, and surrounding law enforcement jurisdictions, entered Thompson into national law enforcement databases, and reviewed license plate reader data. The Bethlehem Police Investigations Unit was assisted by the Pocono Township Police Department, Pocono Regional Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, and regional search and rescue teams.

Police noted that the recovery of the remains may shed additional light on what occurred during the late evening hours of February 13 and into the early morning of February 14, the window that investigators have consistently flagged as the critical gap in the timeline. The Bethlehem Police Department asked the public to respect Thompson's family's privacy, extending condolences to those close to him as the autopsy results and final determination of cause and manner of death remain pending.