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By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
Edward Lewis on Facebook   |   @TLEdLewis on Twitter

JENKINS TWP. – Police on Thursday found the body of a missing Plymouth man whose truck was found abandoned and torched in late April in Plymouth Township.

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Dressed in protective clothing, Luzerne County Coroner John Corcoran, left, and Chief Deputy Coroner William Lisman bring a body from a wooded area along Suscon Road in Jenkins Township Thursday.

Don Carey/The Times Leader

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Skiff

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The body has been positively identified as that of 34-year-old Donald T. Skiff, Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said.

A forensic dentist, Dr. John Hosage, who was assisted by Dr. Steven Bonomo, used dental records to identify Skiff, who lived at 84 Martz St., Plymouth.

Skiff was the drummer of a local band, Wicked Sins. He was last seen fishing on the Susquehanna River with a group of friends in Shickshinny on April 27.

Family and friends reported Skiff missing one day later after he did not show up for work at Maui Cup factory in Pittston Township.

Skiff’s 2000 Ford Ranger was found burned two days later in a wooded area off Route 11 in the Plymouth Flats area.

A state police fire marshal had ruled the vehicle fire arson.

State police at Wyoming discovered Skiff’s body in a heavily wooded area about 30 yards off Suscon Road at 1:12 p.m., Musto Carroll said. Investigators had been searching for Skiff in the Seven Tubs Nature Area, a Luzerne County park in Plains Township, in recent days.

County Coroner John P. Corcoran and Chief Deputy Coroner William Lisman removed the body at about 4:30 p.m.

Musto Carroll declined to release details on Skiff’s disappearance.

A cause and manner of death have not been determined. An autopsy will be performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross at 10 a.m. today at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

Officials have not indicated what led to Thursday’s discovery, but said the investigation into Skiff’s disappearance and death continues.

Two law enforcement sources say that Michael J. Simonson, who is currently jailed at the county correctional facility, led state police to Skiff’s body after his preliminary hearing in Central Court on Thursday.

The sources asked The Times Leader that they not be identified.

Simonson, 32, of Plains Township, hasn’t been charged in connection with Skiff’s disappearance. He has been jailed since his arrest by state police at Shickshinny on May 4 for allegedly assaulting a woman in Union Township.