High School Runners Discover Human Remains in Long Island Park, Potentially Solving Missing Person Case
Skeletal remains found in Plandome Pond Park may belong to a woman with dementia who disappeared last year.
Human remains discovered in a Long Island park by high school runners are believed to belong to a 79-year-old grandmother who went missing in December 2025. The discovery was made on Thursday around 5:45 p.m. in Plandome Pond Park in Manhasset, according to the Nassau County Police Department and NBC New York.
A local high school track team was running on trails when one student, identified as an Eagle Scout, spotted the skeletal remains in the brush near the train tracks. "When the detectives asked him how he was doing, his response was ‘I’m doing fine. I only hope this brings closure to a family that lost someone’," Plandome Heights Mayor Kenneth Riscica told NBC New York.
Authorities are investigating whether the remains are those of Shi Hua Xu, a resident of nearby Great Neck who suffers from dementia and disappeared from her home. Xu was last seen walking in Great Neck before she vanished. She was not wearing her tracking device on the day she disappeared, and her family has been searching for her since.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder stated that the remains are believed to be female, and the department is working to confirm the identity. "We don’t believe it to be criminal in nature," Ryder told reporters.
The family of Shi Hua Xu has positively identified a piece of clothing found at the scene as belonging to her. The medical examiner's office is awaiting DNA testing to definitively confirm the identity of the remains. The student who found the remains expressed hope that the discovery would bring closure to the family.