Dismembered Remains in Shirley Pond Identified as 69-Year-Old Peter Degan

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced that fingerprints tied human remains recovered from a Shirley pond to 69-year-old Peter Degan of Rockland and said investigators are treating the case as suspicious after divers recovered multiple body parts. Degan was last seen alive on February 27, and officials identified the remains during a press conference on Thursday following the recoveries.

A group walking near the Maritime Veterans Memorial Bridge on Shaker Road spotted what appeared to be a leg in the water at about 5:30 p.m. on March 4 and called 911. Accounts vary on the ages of the people who made the discovery - some descriptions call them high schoolers and others describe middle schoolers - but all reports agree a group noticed the leg and alerted police.

Responding officers confirmed the presence of human remains at the scene and dive teams returned the following day to search the pond. Divers recovered additional body parts on Thursday that authorities say were determined to be from the same person, but a full body has not been recovered and searches for missing parts are ongoing.

Describing the condition of the recovered pieces, DA Marian Ryan said, "Those body parts, which appeared to all be from the same person, appear to also have clean cuts. That is, they were severed with apparently a very sharp, blunt force instrument." At the same briefing she added, "Those parts appear to have been clean cut. That is they were severed by a sharp-force instrument." An eyewitness identified only as Clapper said the leg was severed right below the knee with a foot attached and "did not appear to have been in the water long," adding, "It was just messed up." A local resident said, "I feel bad for the kids. I don't know what they were doing, but to come down here and see something like that — it's horrifying."

Degan had been living in a Rockland pre-release house after pleading guilty to charges related to trafficking and distribution of cocaine and serving time on a 2019 drug conviction at MCI Shirley. Local records include a 2018 booking photograph tied to his prior cocaine trafficking arrest.

Authorities have characterized the discovery as not believed to be random and have said the investigation is preliminary. Officials have not released a cause or manner of death, have not named any suspects, and have not provided an autopsy timeline. Shirley police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact investigators as dive teams and law enforcement continue searching the Catacunemaug Brook area connected to Phoenix Pond where remains were recovered on March 4. A photo from the scene shows a sign marking Catacunemaug Brook near Phoenix Pond, credited to Aaron Curtis.