CROWN POINT — Police have tentatively identified a body found in Crown Point late Friday as Keith R. Gill.
An autopsy performed Saturday afternoon at Adirondack Medical Center confirmed that the person died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Essex County Coroner Paul Conner later ruled the manner of death as suicide.
Police said a forensic dental comparison will be necessary to absolutely confirm that it is Gill’s body.
Gill, 45, of Chestertown and Bryn Mawr, Pa., has been missing from a family camp on Loon Lake near Chestertown since Aug. 19.
A 1999 BMW he was driving was found on Peasley Road in Crown Point, setting off a massive search by State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers and Environmental Conservation Police, State Police, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, Ticonderoga Town Police and Crown Point firefighters.
The coordinated search was discontinued last week after finding no sign of Gill, but at about 4:40 p.m. Friday, a Conservation Police officer found human remains in the woods off Peasley Road, less than a mile from where Gill’s car had been found.
Essex County Coroner Paul Connery of Ticonderoga authorized transport of the remains to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for the autopsy.
State Police said documents and items belonging to Gill were located where the body was found.
Gill was last seen at the Loon Lake cottage in the early morning hours of Aug. 19. Police said he has been treated in the past for depression.
Gill is a 1985 graduate of North Warren High School in Chestertown. Police said he had no connection to Essex County.
— Staff Writer Miranda Orso contributed to this report.
WHERE TO GET HELP
If you're considering suicide, instead, get help by calling the following numbers: For counseling: Clinton County Mental Health, 565-4060. Essex County Mental Health Clinic, 873-3670; after-hour emergencies, (888) 854-3773. In northern Franklin County, around the clock, 483-3261; southern Franklin County, 891-5535. WHERE TO GET HELP If you're considering suicide, instead, get help by calling the following numbers: For emotional crises: The toll-free Clinton County suicide hot line number is (866) 577-3836. Out-of-county calls are accepted but other options are: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, (800) 273-TALK (8255). The Essex County Mental Health Association Hope Line, (800) 440-8074. That last number is staffed 24-7, but the phone system handles limited calls. If there's no answer, hang up and try again. Or call 911 or go to your closest emergency room. Mary Anne Cox holds a Suicide Survivors Support Group in Plattsburgh the second Wednesday of the month. Register with her ahead of time at 563-1141.
