SPRINGFIELD — After six days of an intensive search. Juan Nieves’ body was discovered Saturday by a detective who followed footsteps in the snow on Clough Street.
The body of Nieves, a 57-year-old with dementia, was discovered around 3 p.m. next to a residential building on the campus of the YWCA, according to police and the agency’s top executive.
“It was just heartbreaking,” said Liz Dineen, the CEO of the agency whose mission is to help victims of domestic violence. “I feel so terribly for his family.”
Nieves slipped out of his home at Manor Court in the early evening of Super Bowl Sunday. He was wearing only boxer shorts, a T-shirt and sandals. He lived in the complex off Allen Street with his elderly parents, police said.
His body was recovered less than a mile from his home.
The police search employed foot patrols, drones, helicopter surveillance and K-9 units scouring the city’s East Forest Park neighborhood and beyond.
Dineen said Nieves’ supine body was discovered during a search of the area where piles of snow had fallen from the roof. The discovery occurred as the temperatures rose and the snow began to melt.
“I think he froze pretty quickly. If he had been in a seated position he would have been found sooner,” said Dineen, a former prosecutor, who went to the scene of the discovery.
She said local residents and Nieves’ family members had also joined in the search.
“They were just totally bereft. Heartbroken,” Dineen said. “It’s just very sad.”
