Teen runner’s find in Manhasset park may answer what happened to missing Great Neck woman, 79

At about 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, a high school runner noticed skeletal remains in the brush of a Manhasset park. Nassau County police are now trying to learn who the person was, and a Great Neck family missing a loved one since December 2025 is waiting for the answer.

The student, an Eagle Scout, was running the park trails with his school’s track team. Plandome Heights Mayor Kenneth Riscica said the team had been running next to the train tracks and was entering Plandome Pond Park when the teen saw the remains.

Police check link to missing Great Neck grandmother

Investigators are focused on one possibility: that the search for 79-year-old Shi Hua Xu has come to an end. The grandmother, who has dementia, liked to take walks around her neighborhood. Her last known sighting was on foot in Great Neck, the town next to Manhasset. On the day she vanished she had left her tracking device behind, and her family has been looking for her ever since.

The remains are those of a woman, according to Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, who said police hoped to identify her by the end of the day. “We don’t believe it to be criminal in nature,” he said.

Relatives of Xu have examined an item of clothing recovered near the remains and say it belonged to her. Even so, the medical examiner’s office will hold off on confirming an identity until DNA testing is complete.

Teen runner hopes the discovery brings closure

When detectives asked the student how he was doing, he told them he was fine, Riscica said. The mayor shared what the runner said next. “I only hope this brings closure to a family that lost someone,” the teen told detectives, as Riscica recounted it.

For now, Xu’s family is waiting on the DNA results to learn whether their long search is over.