There is no foul play suspected in the case of a body discovered Aug. 11 after “an extended period” in the water at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
A call reporting the body seen “along the shoreline” came in at 11:37 a.m., said a spokesperson for the DA in a Friday email. First responders were on the scene quickly, and firefighters were able to remove the body from the water and rested it in Fresh Pond’s community garden before removal.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner accepted the case and “determined the identity of the individual to be a 41-year-old male who was known to be in the area. The preliminary investigation did not indicate any obvious trauma to the body, and there is no foul play suspected at this time,” said a press release from Meghan Kelly of the DA’s office.
The site last saw such a scene Sept. 13, 2024, when a person was spotted on the ground in the early morning and was later confirmed as a suicide by gun.
Fresh Pond plays a role in Cambridge drinking water, and there were questions about water quality that a city spokesperson addressed the day the body was found.
The pond holds roughly 1.5 billion gallons. The city’s drinking water comes through a system in which it travels from the Stony Brook watershed in Lincoln, Lexington, Weston and Waltham to Fresh Pond before entering Cambridge’s treatment plant. “All water undergoes a comprehensive, multibarrier treatment process that is designed to effectively address any potential contaminants,” said Jeremy Warnick, the spokesperson.
