Missing Cape man found dead in tunnel

Bryant was reported missing by his parents to Yarmouth Police May 31, after he did not return home the previous day, said Sergeant Sean Sweeney, a spokesman for the Barnstable police. Bryant’s green 1986 GMC pickup truck was found that Friday, less than a mile from where his maze of tunnels and his body were discovered.

Officers left a note on the truck, requesting that Bryant call police, and searched the area with police dogs, but turned up nothing, Sweeney said.

On Monday, police joined Bryant’s father in the area where the truck was discovered after he decided to search for his son himself, Sweeney said. As the group convened, a man passed by with his dog and said he had seen Bryant throughout the last month digging on a slope nearby.

The man led them to two large, partially collapsed pits, each roughly the size of a Volkswagen, and there they found Bryant’s knapsack, cellphone, and sweatshirt. Believing Bryant to be trapped inside, they called firefighters, who began the search and recovery effort.

Digging by hand and with the help of an excavator, crews discovered three or four tunnels extending from the pits, one more than 25 feet long that looped around the area, according to police. There were spaces resembling rooms or bunkers, and air holes were located at several places. Most of the tunnel walls were not reinforced.

The soil the trenches were built in was dry and sandy, probably leading to the collapse.

“It’s like digging a hole in the beach,’’ Sweeney said. “It’s fine as long as the soil is a little moist, but when it really starts to dry out, it starts to collapse.’’

The search was suspended around 10 p.m. Monday and resumed early yesterday, said Yarmouth police Detective Russell Giammarco, who was on scene. Around 3 p.m., crews discovered Bryant’s body buried in a collapsed tunnel about 5 or 6 feet below the surface.

Firefighters from Middleborough, Plymouth, Barnstable, Hyannis, Chatham, Hanover, and other municipalities assisted in the search, and more than 70 police, firefighters, and other emergency crews were on scene. The effort became personal for Middleborough firefighters — Bryant’s sister is a firefighter in the department, Giammarco said.

Bryant’s parents were there during the two-day search, Sweeney said. A phone call to the Circuit Road home where Bryant lived with his parents was not immediately returned.

His family told police that Bryant had recently lost his carpentry job and was possibly dealing with some mental issues, Giammarco said.

“He was living with his parents and needed to be on his own, so he was making a house for himself,’’ he said. “He liked the woods, he liked being alone.

“He had done pretty intricate work. It was just an unfortunate accident that the thing collapsed on him.’’

L. Finch can be reached at lfinch@globe.com.