May 25, 2022
Help Find George Hughes/Facebook
George Hughes, 57, was reported missing by his family in Delaware County after he was last seen on May 16. Marple Township found a deceased man at Hughes' auto body shop in Broomall on Wednesday, May 25. An autopsy has been scheduled, police said.
A man's body was found Wednesday on the property of a business owned by a Delaware County man who has been missing for more than a week, Marple Township police said.
The body was found at Broomall Auto Body on Media Line Road. The business belongs to George Hughes, the 57-year-old man whose family reported him missing after he was last seen on May 16.
"Currently, investigators are unable to confirm the identity of the male. However, clothing closely resembles that which was described to police at the time of the disappearance of George Hughes, Jr. of Broomall," police said Wednesday.
An autopsy will be conducted to confirm the male’s identity and cause of death, authorities said.
The Help Find George Hughes Facebook page, which had been posting updates on the search effort, shared a post Wednesday afternoon in response to the statement from Marple Township Police.
"The Hughes Family want to thank everyone for their love, prayers and assistance in the search," the page said.
Hughes was last seen outside the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store in the Edgemont Square Shopping Center in Newtown Township on May 16. He had left his business around 11 a.m. and was in the area of the liquor store between 2-4 p.m., his family said.
Hughes' sister, Debbie O'Connor, told FOX29 that her brother had gotten into an argument with a family member and had been struggling with a recent death in the family.
"This is not characteristic of him. He has never taken off like this before and we don’t understand what has happened," O’Connor said. "He has a ton of friends, a ton of people that love him."
Kevin Ryan, a private missing person investigator, who has worked on a number of high profile cases in the region, had told the Marple Newtown Patch that Hughes left his car at the auto body business.
On Sunday, Ryan led a team of about 60 volunteers in a search for Hughes at Ridley Creek State Park and at the Edgemont Square Shopping Center. They were unable to locate Hughes.
Family members said they were concerned because Hughes is without his daily medications. He reportedly had been struggling to get his business back up and running after setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marple Police will continue to investigate the incident and make further information available at a later time, officials said.
