Body of missing man found in Beverly
Feb. 14—BEVERLY — The body of a missing 47-year-old Peabody man was found late Saturday following two weeks of extensive searches by police K-9s, state police planes and a legion of first responders on foot.
Police received a 911 call about 4:20 p.m., alerting them to a body in the woods off Woodland Avenue, near Beverly's Ryal Side Elementary school.
The site is less than two miles from Beverly Hospital, where Daniel Donovan, 47, was discharged between 2 and 3 p.m., on Jan. 26 — without a ride, a working cell phone, or a dime in his pocket — to find his way back to his Peabody home. Temperatures that day were in the mid-twenties and dipped to about 12 degrees early the next morning.
Donovan was diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome at age 40. As a teen, however, he graduated from St. John's Prep School in Danvers with high honors, winning a silver medal in math.
Despite being afflicted with Asperger's, his family said he drove his own car, kept a bank account, paid his bills, took care of himself and was able to live alone.
He worked as a sorter at the UPS terminal in Lynnfield for some 25 years. He chose that line of work because, among other things, it didn't force him to deal with people often, and the sorting appealed to his sense of order.
His mother, Judy Donovan, said she had arranged for a cab to take him to the emergency room at Beverly Hospital on Jan. 21 after he began having issues. He told her he had started to think about hurting himself again, something he had done about five years earlier. and he told her he had recently stopped taking the medication that helped control the anxieties and depression associated with Asperger's.
The plan was for him to remain in the emergency room until the next morning, when he would be admitted to the psychiatric unit. Later that night, he was told he had tested positive with COVID-19 and would have to be quarantined for four days before being admitted.
He talked with his mother multiple times during the four days in quarantine, but on Jan. 26, she could not contact him or anyone at the hospital who could locate him. At 9 p.m. that day, she was finally able to speak with someone who said he had been discharged between 2 and 3 that afternoon.
Donovan had walked out onto Herrick Street that cold January afternoon and was not seen again until his body was found 17 days later when police and EMS responded to the 911 call.
As of Sunday afternoon, police had not listed the cause of death. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, but the police said they do not suspect foul play.
On Sunday, Judy Donovan said she was deeply saddened, yet seemingly unsurprised.
"At least he's at peace now," she said.
She said her family will always remember him with pride.
"We are still so proud of him ... he was one of the best men anyone would ever want as a son or brother."
