State police investigate suspicious death near Eastman Pond in Grantham

State police and local officers were at Eastman Boat Launch on Friday after a body was found in Eastman Pond with a capsized canoe, turning the familiar Grantham access point into an active investigation scene. Grantham police said there was no known threat to the public, but officials did not identify the person who died or explain what led them to classify the case as suspicious.

The investigation began June 12, when Grantham police first reached the boat launch just before 8 a.m. after a call about an overturned boat and a possible body inside. Police later said the person was found in the water at Eastman Pond, a body of water the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services describes as about 330 acres with a maximum depth of around 30 feet.

Grantham Police Captain James McKenna confirmed that multiple law-enforcement agencies were involved. The response included the Springfield Police Department, New Hampshire State Police, New Hampshire Marine Patrol, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and Eastman Security. New Hampshire State Trooper Jonathan Delisle and Detective Edward Horton were seen leaving the scene at the Eastman Boat Launch, underscoring that investigators were still actively collecting evidence and working through the early stages of the case.

The boat launch was closed during the investigation and reopened Friday evening. That closure affected a busy stretch of shoreline used by boaters and nearby residents in Eastman, a four-season recreational and residential community in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee region.

Eastman spans roughly 3,600 to 3,700 wooded acres and includes a 335-acre lake, six beaches and extensive trails, making the pond and launch part of daily life as well as recreation. In a community built around water access, the sight of police, marine officers and fish and game personnel at the launch drew immediate attention.

Officials said anyone with information should contact the Grantham Police Department as the investigation continues. For now, the public message has remained the same: there is no known threat, but the circumstances of the death at Eastman Pond are still being examined.