Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A man's disappearance 57 years ago is now being treated as a homicide after his remains were found recently in his home's basement, authorities in New York said Wednesday.
The son and two grandsons of George Carroll located the remains along cement walls on Oct. 30 while excavating the basement of the home in Lake Grove, Long Island.
An autopsy determined George Carroll's skull was fractured by blunt force trauma, which may have occurred after he died, authorities said.
George Carroll went missing in 1961, six years after the family bought the home. His son, Michael Carroll, 57, now owns the property.
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His mother, Dorothy Carroll, died in 1998.
Family members had felt that George Carroll might be buried in the basement, the police said.
Michael Carroll and his two adults sons, Christopher and Michael Jr., decided to excavate the basement in search of the remains.
"It didn't just come up overnight, it's something that's been talked about for years," Michael Carroll told WABC-TV in October. "This is something as we grew up, you know. We heard multiple stories."
They began their search a few years ago and stopped because it became too dangerous, the elder Carroll said.
The sons resumed the excavation for their father after he had a stroke and ultimately discovered the remains about 6 to 8 feet down below the basement.
Michael Carroll said he wasn't surprised by the discovery and hoped to bury his father, a Korean War veteran, at Calverton National Cemetery.
"I want him to be a soldier," he said. "I want him to get what he needs."
