Sad end to Swampscott disappearance

SWAMPSCOTT – The waiting ended Friday for the family of missing Swampscott resident Jaimee Mendez after the Essex District Attorney’s office confirmed human remains found Wednesday on Kings Beach have been positively identified as Mendez.”We are relieved for Jaimee’s family that she has been located and identified. We will continue to work diligently to determine the circumstances of her death,” District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement released at 5:46 p.m. on Friday.Blodgett’s spokeswoman, Carrie Kimball-Monahan, said no arrest has been made in connection with the identification.Mendez’ family was not immediately available for comment Friday.In identifying remains found Wednesday on Kings Beach in Swampscott as Mendez’, Blodgett said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not rule on the cause or manner of Mendez’ death. The identification was made Friday afternoon using Mendez’ dental records.Mendez, the 25-year-old mother of a young boy, was last seen by her family last Nov. 6. She was officially listed missing Nov. 8 and family members said Mendez’ last traceable actions included a call to a friend to pick her up.Police and Mendez’ family and relatives searched a business park on Danvers Road and family members told reporters her identification and phone were found in the park. Her shoes were reportedly found in a Dumpster behind the Eastern Avenue CVS in Lynn.Helicopter and dive team searches recovered no information and the search for Mendez did not yield results until Wednesday when a dog walker on Kings Beach spotted human remains near the seawall at the Lynn-Swampscott line.Mendez’ mother, Michelle, sister, Alyssa, and family friends watched from the snow-clogged beach walkway as investigators removed material from the beach and transported it by truck away from the discovery scene.In an exclusive interview with the Item Nov. 13, East Lynn resident Jason Fleury said he was with Mendez on the night of her disappearance but he denied in the interview that he killed her. He told the Item that Mendez was a go-between for drug deals. On Nov. 6, the night she was last seen, he picked her up at her Swampscott home and drove to the area of the Rite Aid on Lewis Street in Lynn. He said he gave her money, she went off and then returned with drugs. He said they separated – she walked away from his car and he drove home to use the drugs. He said it was the last time he saw her.Fleury has a criminal record that includes 22 cases in Lynn since 2002, according to District Court records. He was designated a Level 3 sex offender in 2007. In the Item interview, he described himself as a heroin addict, but not violent.