A man who found a skeleton under the basement of their house in New York has discovered those are his father’s remains.

His father, George Carroll, had gone missing 57 years ago.

57-year-old Michael Carroll found the skeleton with his grandchildren while excavating the basement of their home.

His father went missing in 1961, six years after the family purchased the house. Michael was only 8 months old when that happened, and was just told his father had left “to do something’ but he never returned.

Michael started to excavate the basement many years ago. He only stopped when the process became too dangerous. When he resumed recently, he stumbled across the remains, which authorities have confirmed are those of his father.

He told ABC’s Eyewitness News: “It didn’t just come up overnight, it’s something that’s been talked about for years.

“This is something as we grew up, you know. We heard multiple stories.”

Michael’s brother, Steven, was only five when their dad had gone missing. He added: “There really wasn’t much talk about it. But we became curious as adults as to where he might be.”

Steven said the family had interviewed many people from the neighborhood to search more about George’s whereabouts. However, it wasn’t until they became adults that they were able to look further.

The skeleton was found around cement walls, around 6 to 8 feet down. Michael admitted he was not surprised when he saw the remains in the basement.

“In my mind, I always felt that I was going to find that,” he said. “I’m glad this is over and I don’t have to break up my house anymore.”

Steven added: “I feel great that my dad is free from that crappy hole.”

Their mother, Dorothy, can’t be called in for questioning as she died in 1998.

Michael and Steven also have two sisters, who were 9 and 7 when their father went missing. Their father’s death is now being investigated as a potential homicide but Michael said that finding his father’s body already acts as enough closure.

He told New York Post: “There will be no justice. The justice happened when we dug him up because we just interrupted the perfect crime – they almost got away with this.”

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