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The mystery of human skeletal remains found at the bottom of a well in southwestern Ontario was solved Friday.

Chatham-Kent Police confirmed the bones found in Dresden were those of Clint Brown, a local bachelor who mysteriously disappeared in 1975.

The remains were found in the covered well behind a house on Sydenham Street in April by a man who was renovating his back deck.

The gruesome discovery turned into a perplexing situation for police, who quickly determined the skeleton had been at the bottom of the well for quite some time.

Bachelor went to doctor's and never returned

Clint Brown, shown here in this undated photo, was born in 1914, served in the Canadian military and was held for 18 months as a prisoner of war in Italy. Brown was 61 years old when he died in the Dresden well.Clint Brown, shown here in this undated photo, was born in 1914, served in the Canadian military and was held for 18 months as a prisoner of war in Italy. Brown was 61 years old when he died in the Dresden well. (Photo submitted by Ron Furtah)However, it wasn't long before residents in the community 30 kilometres north of the city of Chatham said they had a pretty good idea who was sealed inside the well — and that he'd probably been there for decades.

In 1975, Brown was 61 years old and lived in a trailer about 500 metres from the well.

His family said he was supposed to go to a doctor's appointment one day, but after that, was never seen again.

But police couldn't say for certain in April that the bones belonged to Brown.

Forensic anthropologists carefully removed the remains from the well and they were taken to London for a post-mortem examination, which revealed the bones were male and that the man was not injured before he ended up in the well.

The Major Crime Unit started asking around and information kept pointing them to Brown.

Victim had been prisoner of war

The case made a huge leap forward when it was revealed that Brown had served in the Canadian military and fought in the Second World War.

Brown was taken prisoner in Italy and held for 18 months as a prisoner of war.

The Canadian military kept Brown's dental records on file, and police were able to compare them with those of the remains found in the well.

Police announced Friday the records confirmed the bones were indeed Brown's.

What remains a mystery, however, is how and why Brown ended up in the well in the first place.