Body Found In Nantucket State Forest

A body was found in the State Forest on Sunday morning after island police officers and Massachusetts State Police Troopers responded to the area for the report of an unresponsive male discovered in the woods.

The case is under investigation by the Nantucket Police Department Detective's Unit and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but Lt. Angus MacVicar told the Current "the case does not appear suspicious."

The body was discovered near one of the Nantucket Disc Golf Course holes in the State Forest, according to a person who came upon the scene and saw police officers and Massachusetts State Troopers near an area that had been roped off with yellow police tape.

MacVicar said the incident was reported at 9:09 a.m. on Sunday, but that "no further information will be released at this time."

Medical examiner Dr. Tim Lepore said he suspects the 24-year-old man died of a fentanyl, the dangerous synthetic opioid.

Another source told the Current the incident was indeed a fatal overdose, but MacVicar would not comment on the circumstances of the man's death.

A second source who was in the State Forest Sunday morning also described the incident as an overdose death after spotting the police tape and an ambulance leaving the area. A dog walker told this person that police had indicated they believed it was a fatal overdose.

If that information is confirmed, it would be the second overdose in the State Forest since Oct. 19, when Nantucket police and EMTs responded to the area for an unresponsive drug user who was "smoking from tinfoil" according to a witness. That man was administered Narcan by Nantucket EMTs and was revived before being taken to Nantucket Cottage Hospital by ambulance. It's unclear if the man found deceased on Sunday was the same person as the previous overdose.