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Body of missing Darien man found not far from home on Sumner Road

By Howard B. Owens

The body of Jeffrey Fredericks, missing since Sept. 15, was found late this afternoon in a wooded area not far from his home on Sumner Road.

The location is just a few houses to the west of Fredericks' house, with a field of a couple hundred yards deep between the roadway and the wooded area. The location is inside Darien Lake State Park.

Fredericks was the victim of an apparent self-inflected gunshot wound, according to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble.

Genesee County Coroner Kristine Flanagain pronounced him dead at 4:44 p.m. His body was located at 3:56 p.m.

Fredericks was 66 years old.

Dibble said the body was found at the end of a long day of searching this particular wooded area.

Dibble said teams had continued to traverse the area in a grid search pattern and that searches were conducted Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and today.

The exact circumstances of his death remain under investigation.

The following agencies and organizations worked cooperatively over this 10-day period to locate Fredericks: Genesee County Sheriff's Office; New York State Park Police; New York State Police; New York State Forest Rangers; Erie County Sheriff's Office; Corfu Police Dept.; Genesee County Office of Emergency Management; Darien Volunteer Fire Dept.; Bennington Fire Dept.; Corfu Fire Dept.; the Massasauga, Niagara Frontier, Livingston and Oswego Search & Rescue teams; Genesee County Planning Dept.; and Darien Lake Theme Park Security. The Salvation Army also assisted.

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