Police say a missing and endangered Rhode Island man has been found deceased

Regrettably, the missing and endangered 83-year-old male who was reported missing last evening has been located and found deceased.

Earlier this morning, Cumberland Police officers located John “Jack” Thornhill in a small, wooded park area at the end of Branch Avenue in Cumberland. At this time, the death is not being treated as suspicious in nature.

Thornhill was observed on a neighbor’s security camera entering the woods yesterday morning at around 7:50 a.m. by himself and did not return. Cumberland police personnel immediately began search efforts with the use of thermal imagining drones and with the support of a Rhode Island State Police K9 unit. A second wave of searching this morning, once the sun rose and visibility increased, allowed searchers to locate Thornhill off one of the paths in the woods several hundred feet in.

Chief Benson offers, “On behalf of the Cumberland Police Department, I offer my condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Mr. Thornhill during this most difficult time. I’d like to thank those on my staff who spent hours last evening and into this morning searching for Mr. Thornhill. While not the outcome we hoped for, their collective diligence was certainly commendable so that Mr. Thornhill could be returned to his family. I’d also like to acknowledge and thank the Rhode Island State Police and the volunteer group from Rhode Island Canine Search and Rescue whose efforts were greatly appreciated.”