Remains identified as Ellsworth man

BRADFORD – The remains of a man uncovered in a shallow grave here last week were identified Wednesday as Joseph Cloak Jr. of Ellsworth, according to the Maine State Police.

The state Medical Examiner’s Office said it expected to release a cause of death Friday.

Cloak was reported missing to Ellsworth police in 1991, two years after he last was seen by his parents, according to Lt. Darrell Ouellette of the state police.

Ellsworth police said Wednesday that the file on the case was turned over to the state police Tuesday and refused to discuss the contents of Cloak’s file. Cloak was born in 1962.

Cloak’s parents, who reside in Ellsworth, were informed of the positive identification Tuesday evening, according to Ouellette.

The detective said Wednesday that “an incarcerated individual” contacted the state police to tell them where a body was buried in Bradford.

On Nov. 30, that inmate led representatives from the state police and the state Medical Examiner’s Office to “a shallow grave on a woodlot” where the remains were found, said Ouellette.

There was no identification on the body, according to police. Cloak was identified using dental records, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

“We are giving out no further information about the exact location of where the body was found,” said Ouellette Wednesday afternoon. “In case this might be a homicide, we are keeping quiet about the details of the case.”

Cloak’s parents, who still reside in Ellsworth, declined to be interviewed about their son’s disappearance and death.

NEWS writer Shawn O’Leary contributed to this report.