Body of retired, missing Bend firefighter found

(Update: Searchers find body in a hole at construction site)

An extensive search for a missing retired Bend firefighter ended sadly late Monday afternoon when his body was found in a large hole at a northeast Bend construction site.

Bend police had asked the public for help in locating John Love, 60, who last was seen early last Wednesday morning when a cab driver dropped him off in front of his home on Northeast St. Cloud Street, Lt. John Maniscalco said.

Around 2 p.m. Monday, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue deployed a team of 27 searchers and deputies to help Bend police look for Love.

Around 4:30 p.m., two human-scent K-9 teams and another searcher began the area of Northeast Cooley Road and 18th Street.

The searchers found a deceased man, mostly covered with snow, in a large hole in an area that was under construction, Maniscalco said.

Investigators determined the man was Love and notified family members, he said. They are working with the district attorney’s and medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of death.

A family member on Saturday reported Love missing to the Bend Police Department, Maniscalco said.

A police investigation determined a cab driver dropped Love off in front of his home on St. Cloud Street between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. last Wednesday. The intersection of 18th Street and Cooley Road is about 1,500 feet to the northeast of his home.