Found Dead After Two Years: Western Mass Man Disappeared in 2021

A 63-year-old man who disappeared in Hampden County two years ago was found dead last week.

Gary Belder, 63, who has been missing since July 2021, was found dead last week. Police do not suspect foul play.
Photo Credit: *Hampden District Attorney's Office*

03/29/2023 3:04 p.m.

Gary Belder, of Springfield, was found on Memorial Drive in Chicopee on March 23, the Hampden County District Attorney's Office said. Police do not believe he met with foul play.

Belder told friends he planned to go to Smiley's on Boston Road in Springfield on July 5, 2021, but never returned. Police have fielded dozens of calls about the potential whereabouts since then, but none panned out until someone stumbled across remains.

Officials did not release his cause of death, but the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled out killing, the prosecutor said.

Chicopee police are still investigating the cause of death and the circumstances around how his body ended up in that wooded area.

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