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Remains discovered in Rhode Island home confirmed to be former Woonsocket mayor

One of the two bodies discovered in a former Rhode Island mayor’s home earlier this week has been identified as former Woonsocket Mayor Susan Menard, Rhode Island health officials announced.

Authorities said they discovered two “severely decomposed” bodies belonging to an elderly man and woman inside Menard’s home earlier this week.

Rhode Island health officials announced Friday they had identified the second body as Daniel Grabowski. They also revealed Menard's cause of death as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Grabowski, officials said, died of type 2 diabetes.

Grabowski was identified as Menard's longtime boyfriend, The Boston Globe reported.

Menard had been the longest-serving mayor of Woonsocket, a town of roughly 40,000 in the northern part of Rhode Island near the Massachusetts border, the Providence Journal reported. She served from 1995 to 2009.

The state Medical Examiner's Office said one of the bodies found in a Woonsocket home Monday was former Mayor Susan Menard.
The state Medical Examiner's Office said one of the bodies found in a Woonsocket home Monday was former Mayor Susan Menard.

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Current Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt told the Providence Journal she remembered Menard as “a strong leader” who looked after the city’s senior citizens.

In 2017, a middle school in Woonsocket was named after Menard.

Contributing: Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY; Jack Perry, The Providence Journal 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Rhode Island mayor Susan Menard's remains identified