Human Remains Discovered In April Identified As Mary Macy, Nantucket Woman Missing Since 2015

The human remains discovered off Milestone Road in early April have been identified as Mary Macy, the Nantucket resident who went missing from her home in June 2015, according to a death certificate filed with the Nantucket Town Clerk's office. 

Macy was 60 years old when she went missing and was believed to have early-onset Alzheimer's disease. A large search of the island at the time of her disappearance was undertaken, but turned up nothing. 

According to the death certificate, which was filed with the Town Clerk's office on May 1st, the date of Macy's death was recorded as April 4, 2024, the same day the remains were found by a man walking in the Philips Run swamp area off Milestone Road. The manner of death on the certificate was listed as "pending investigation."

Family members declined to comment when reached by the Current this week.

"Yes, she (Macy) was positively identified," Nantucket Police Lt. Angus MacVicar said on Thursday. "The only reason we didn't release the name earlier is we were working with the family, out of respect for the family. It was a traumatic situation and we were waiting to go ahead and release the name."

The identification was made the day after the remains were discovered, MacVicar said, but he declined to share how the remains were positively identified as Macy.

"The manner of death and any and all circumstances around it" remain under investigation, he added. "It's not a closed case. We continue to investigate the best we can." 

The remains were discovered on April 4 by a seasonal resident who was walking in the area on Thursday looking for dropped deer antlers, often called sheds. The densely forested, swampy location was about a half-mile south of Milestone Road, and a short distance away from Macy's residence. 

Macy, a former library assistant at the Atheneum, loved gardening and being outside, particularly at the 'Sconset Bluff Walk on the east end of the island near the family's home. She grew up in Virginia and spent summers on the Nantucket with her parents and siblings before moving to Nantucket year-round in the 1970s. She met her husband Bernie on the island, and the couple raised two daughters.