Finding Skeletal Remains Has Been a "Surreal" Experience, Vernon Resident Says

Adam Viens' life has been one big crime show since Wednesday afternoon.

His driveway has been a highway for police officers, detectives, forensics teams and other investigative personnel. Sections of the abutting woods have been sealed off.

And no matter how hard he tries to piece it all together, it just seems weird to him.

"It is a crime scene and that seems seems really strange," he said. "It's not sinking in."

The 23-year-old Viens then paused for a bit. He was looking for something profound to say but then admitted there was a less-than-fancy reasoning.

"Being that it was a dump, it's not as surprising as it could be," he said.

The "it" was the discovery of skeletal remains in the woods near his home - the two-lot, shared driveway subdivision at 126 and 130 West St.  

Viens splits his time between working at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Manchester and taking classes at Manchester Community College. He had a sculpture assignment and went out to the woods next to his property to look for some metal, his mom, Kris, said.

He went out at about 1 Wednesday afternoon and came back at about 1:45, she said.

And what an eventful three-quarters of an hour.

The land is a former landfill, a dump it was called back about four decades ago, before it was closed. Kids scavenged there, played there. Kris Viens says she was one of those who played in there. She said there are car parts, broken glass, scrap metal and "all kinds of crap."

It was the perfect place for Adam to find materials for a sculpture.

So off he went, looking down, walking along. He came to a stream about 200 yards from his house.

"When got to the water, I looked across opposite side, about 20 feet away," he said. "I saw what was obviously a skull. I could make out part of the eye area."

Being an old landfill, the first thought Adam had was something like an old Halloween decoration. He said he regrets his next move - picking it up - but when he understood it was likely real, he showed Kris and she called the police.

The scene was secured Wednesday afternoon and police intensified the investigation on Thursday.

At about 8:30 p.m., when they were calling it the end of a long day, Vernon detectives said it would be premature to guess at who it might be. Police did say the remains were likely human.

"It's too early and anything I say would be speculation," Lt. William Meier of the Detective Division said. "All possibilities exist at this point."

An officer is being stationed at the scene around the clock and the investigation will resume in the woods on Friday.  

The Viens' home was built in 1992 and the family has been there for 20 years.

Adam said he has tried to put the experience in perspective.

"I am walking, thinking of certain things and then I randomly come upon this skull," he said. "It's surreal. I have stumbled upon the remains of a person - someone missing who others are looking for."