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Long Island Family Discovers Skeletal Remains In Basement While Digging For Long Lost Grandfather

LAKE GROVE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A family made a grisly discovery Wednesday in the basement of their home on Long Island.

Suffolk County police say the family who owns the house on Olive Street in Lake Grove was excavating the basement when they stumbled upon what could be the remains of the home's long lost owner.

The Carroll family has owned the home since 1955, but their father, George Carroll, went missing in 1961 and was never found. Police tell CBS2 the family had always heard a rumor that he was buried in the basement and a few months ago began to look into the hearsay.

Michael Carroll, 57, and his two adult sons made the chilling discovery around 2 p.m., while neighborhood children were out trick or treating near the home.

"(The family) had gone as far as hiring a ground penetrating radar company to search the floor of the basement," Suffolk County Police Detective Lieutenant Kevin Beyrer said. "Based on some of those results, he asked his kids, who are adults, to dig when they can. It was just always a family legend or lore that the father was buried in the basement since 1961."

Police say George Carroll's wife, Dorothy, died about 20 years ago so it's unclear what she have known in connection to George's disappearance.

The remains were discovered four to five feet underneath the basement's concrete floor. Investigators say DNA testing will be used to determine who the remains belong to, and the Medical Examiner will work to determine their official cause of death.

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