Body of 16-year-old found in Gloucester

By Globe Staff

Gloucester police found the body of a 16-year-old high school student washed ashore Sunday afternnoon on a beach near his home on the city's Eastern Point.

The Essex County District Attorney's office said Dylan Hill reportedly left his house late Saturday night and was reported missing by his father Sunday afternnoon. While his father was at the station, police received a call about a body on Wonson Cove. The father accompanied the police to the beach and identified his son's body, said Gloucester police Sgt. Michael Williams.

There were no signs of trauma and foul play is not suspected, said Stephen O'Connell of the Essex County DA's office. An autopsy is expected to be performed Monday.

A man who answered the phone at the Hill home said the family would not comment.

A friend of the Hill family, Ellen Flaherty, said she had called the boy's home after hearing of his death, and said, "they're just totally in shock."