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Body Of Missing Sailor Found In Harbor

26-Year-Old Last Seen Friday

POSTED: 10:23 am EDT March 21, 2007
UPDATED: 6:39 am EDT March 22, 2007

The body of a missing sailor was found in the Boston Harbor, sources confirmed Wednesday.

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that officials found the body of Petty Officer Dustin Willis, 26, at Long Wharf, yards from where Willis' cell phone was found on a sidewalk. The formal identification process continues, but two sources told NewsCenter 5 that it was Willis' body.

"The sailor's cell phone was found right in this area, and this was the last place that we could identify that the sailor had been," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said.

Willis, 26, was last seen outside the Black Rose restaurant in Boston on Friday. He was out with friends on Friday night before becoming separated from the group. Willis' ship, the USS Donald Cook, a destroyer, left Boston at about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

"A male's body has been recovered and is en route to the medical examiner's office for a postmortem examination," Davis said.

Officials said that they believe that Willis became confused in the driving snow on Friday night.

"There is no indication of foul play, but I must stress that that kind of a determination has to be made by the medical examiner," Davis said.

A Navy information officer did not comment on the discovery, but Willis crewmates were said to be devastated.

"We want this to just come to an end. Find Dustin and get him home," Willis' father, Tony Willis, said in an interview on Tuesday.

Officials said that Willis' cell phone was found at about 1 a.m. on Long Wharf, but detectives are not sure if Willis was there.

"When his friends came around the corner, they didn't see Mr. Willis. They assumed that he might have gone into one of the nightclubs. They began looking into the nightclubs to see if they could see him. They didn't see him. One of his crewmembers called his cell phone, left a message that they were heading back to the ship and to contact the ship," Boston Police Department Detective Sgt. Kevin Finn said.


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