Two missing Western Mass. men found dead from gunshot wounds in Vermont, police say

Jahim Solomon, 21,(left) of Pittsfield, and Eric White, 21, of Chicopee were reported missing to Vermont police on Oct. 15. Their bodies were found in Eden, Vt., on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.Vermont State Police

Two Western Massachusetts men reported missing for more than a week were found dead from gunshot wounds along a roadside in rural northeastern Vermont, authorities said Thursday.

The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s office confirmed their identities as Jahim Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, and Eric White, 21, of Chicopee, following autopsies on their bodies, which were discovered Wednesday along Albany-Eden Road about a mile apart in the town of Eden, Vt., Vermont State Police said in a statement.

Both men were shot in the head and their deaths have been ruled as homicides, State Police said.

Solomon and White were reported missing to Vermont police on Oct. 15. Their families told authorities the two men, who were traveling together, had not been heard from for several days. They had been in the areas of Burlington, Lowell, Morrisville and Stowe,according to Vermont State Police.

On Tuesday, a Vermont game warden “located evidence that appeared suspicious several dozen feet off” Albany Road in Eden, State Police. Investigators secured the scene and discovered human remains Wednesday morning. A second body was located about a mile north Wednesday afternoon.

The bodies were confirmed to be those of Solomon and White on Thursday. The medical examiner’s office determined Solomon died of multiple gunshot wounds to his head, and White died of a single gunshot wound to his head, State Police said.

Their deaths are under investigation and State Police urged anyone with information to call the Derby, Vt., barracks at 802-334-8881. Anonymous tips can be submitted online at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

“Tips from the public remain an important component of this investigation,” State Police said in the statement.