It appears that a three-state search for a missing elderly Hudson Valley man spanning eight months is over.

On Saturday around noon, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a vehicle in the woods less than a mile from Dailey Road in the Town of Cochecton.

The caller believed that the vehicle belonged to 76-year-old Lawrence Molinaro of Cochecton who went missing just after Christmas 2016.

Using UTVs, sheriff’s deputies found a 2004 Ford Explorer in dense woods under a thick canopy of trees. Police confirmed the vehicle belonged to Molinaro from its license plate.

Skeletal remains were found at the scene. Clothing and other items found at the scene matched what police were told Molinaro might have been wearing when he went missing, police say.

An autopsy will be performed to confirm the identity.

Molinaro was last seen by a neighbor on December 27, 2016. He was reported missing two days later after he missed a doctor’s appointment at Catskill Regional Medical Center.

Molinaro was known to visit the Honesdale, P.A. area. He also has relatives in Staten Island and Howell, N.J.

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