Parma, N.Y. — Remains found in a fire pit near Rochester belong to a 69-year-old Upstate New York man who has been missing for nearly two months, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.
The sheriff’s office is investigating William C. Mason’s death as a homicide.
A family member reported Mason missing May 26. They said he was last seen May 25 at his home, at 5465 W. Ridge Road in the town of Parma, according to the sheriff’s office.
Monroe County sheriff’s deputies and local firefighters started searching for Mason on May 27, with help from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit and the Massasauga Search and Rescue Team.
Crews searched Mason’s property and surrounding areas, and called his disappearance “unusual” and “highly suspicious,” according to WHEC News Channel 10.
During the search, members of the sheriff’s office, with help from a forensic anthropologist, recovered many bone fragments and a number of surgical implants from the fire pit on Mason’s property.
A murder investigation was opened after the remains were found, although it wasn’t until Monday that the sheriff’s office announced those remains belonged to Mason, said Amy Young, communications director for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. That was determined after the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office found Mason’s DNA on the remains, she said.
“... Video evidence collected during the investigation confirms there was a fire in the fire pit between May 25th and May 26th, 2021,” according to a sheriff’s news release.
At a news conference Monday, Monroe County Sheriff’s Investigator David Bolton told the media, including WHAM News Channel 13, that Mason’s cause of death is still pending. The news also reported Bolton said it was not known yet whether Mason was alive or dead when the fire was set.
“We found many, many bone fragments — no real long bones,” Bolton said at the news conference. “There were no bones very much longer than ... two to three inches. We did find a number of surgical implants. Mr. Mason did have a number of surgical implants. I won’t speak to what they are, but they matched up with those Mr. Mason had.”
Bolton also said he thinks this was a targeted incident and there is no threat to the general public, WHAM reported.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office previously told WHEC News they have identified two “persons of interest,” but stopped short of calling them suspects. Deputies have issued search warrants, including at a nearby home, and they continue to review video and electronic evidence as the investigation continues.
Investigators say want “to hold those responsible for Mr. Mason’s death accountable.”
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information on Mason’s murder to call them at (585) 753-4175.
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