A decomposing body found on Turks and Caicos Island during the search for missing New Yorker Brian Tarrence was just a short walk from his hotel, according to a new report.
Cops found the unidentified body on July 5, not far from the Paradise Inn in Grace Bay where Tarrence and his wife stayed before he went missing, private investigator Carl DeFazio told People magazine.
“[The body] was found a 20-minute walk from where he was last seen,” DeFazio, a former Marine and NYPD cop, told the outlet. “I would say about a block off of Leeward Highway in a little residential commercial area.”
Police have not yet identified the body — which is now the subject of a murder investigation — and DeFazio cautioned about making assumptions on whether it is Tarrence.
“You can’t just look at, say, a watch, sneakers and a pair of shorts,” he told People. “Anybody could be wearing that. What if we say, ‘Yeah, that’s his watch, that’s his shorts,’ and then find out somebody else had them. And if that were the truth, then this investigation takes a turn tremendously right there.
“But we’re not there yet,” DeFazio added. “But hopefully we’ll get there today or soon.”
Tarrence, 51, arrived on the British territory on June 25 for a romantic anniversary getaway with his wife, Maria, but disappeared from the resort in the middle of the night three days later as she slept.
Police said an investigation into his disappearance is ongoing.
Tarrence, a vice president with Diligent Software in Manhattan, recently moved to the Big Apple from upstate Monroe, where neighbors said Monday that the couple was not very outgoing.
They said the family moved to Manhattan to be close to Tarrence’s stepson, who is in college there.
“He was renting here for the past 2 years,” one woman said. “He seemed like a nice guy. He worked from home most of the time. They were going into the city now that [their] boy was graduating from high school. Just to be in the city, explore.
“They were going to be empty nesters,” she added. “I know a lot of the neighbors didn’t really know them. They kept to themselves.”
Tarrence’s family has not responded to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Desheania Andrews.
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