It has all the makings of a Hollywood movie plot — a sudden disappearance, the discovery of human remains, a mysterious death and international pop superstar Taylor Swift.
News broke on Friday, June 13, that Rhode Island authorities have positively identified the human remains found washed ashore near Swift’s Watch Hill mansion in May are those of 31-year-old Eric Wein. Although police have concluded its investigation, the case isn’t settled with Wein’s loved ones, and may never be closed.
“We don’t know how to plan a memorial. We don’t know the next step,” Wein’s good friend Nicole Leboeuf exclusively told Us Weekly. “There is no closure. We have no idea what happened or where the rest of him is. Presumably, he is no longer with us, but without those answers, it’s hard to move on.”
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Wein, who lived in Massachusetts, visited Rhode Island often to see his brother and friends. But, the last time was different.
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The week before he disappeared on April 10, he told his employer he was taking a week off due to “unforeseen circumstances” but that he would be back the following Sunday, according to Leboeuf.
“We were not sure what to make of that. It was not the verbiage he would use,” she said. “He didn’t tell his friends or family anything.”
She said they “were hoping he was seeing a girl,” but he didn’t return to work. According to Leboeuf, Wein rented a hotel room in Charlestown for a week and checked out a day earlier than expected.
“He went alone and didn’t tell his friends or family, which was strange,” she said.
Lebeouf recounted that Wein’s car was discovered abandoned at the end of a residential street on Ocean Ave., telling Us, “At the end of this road are houses and he left his car blocking a driveway. And there wasn’t a lot of space to leave a car.”
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That night, his cell phone turned off — and never turned on again, she said, adding that when the family who lived at the home where Wein’s car was parked woke up, they couldn’t get out of their driveway and had his car towed away.
“His wallet was found in his car, which was locked, but not his keys. So he must have taken his keys,” Lebeouf said.
A month later, on May 14, a human leg bone washed ashore just a third of a mile from Swift’s $17 million seaside mansion — and 16 miles from where Wein parked his car. On June 13, police confirmed the remains belonged to Wein. No other remains have been found.
“Reading all the comments that Taylor Swift was in the headlines instead of Eric, I felt very alone with his friends and family trying to find him,” said Leboeuf, who combed the marshes in the area looking for Wein and any clues that may have led to his whereabouts.
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She added, “With the Taylor headlines, they didn’t give Eric the attention he deserves.”
And as those close to the ex-Marine try to put the puzzle pieces together to make sense of his mysterious final days, none of them seem to fit.
“Even if he walked a couple miles, he is not walking 16 miles. At some point, he ended up in the ocean, but we don’t know how,” she said. “We are still piecing it together. I went down a rabbit hole to find him. His keys and phone were never recovered or the rest of him. There wasn’t a note.”
Lebeouf continued, “I don’t know what to think of it. We tried anything to figure out what happened. We can’t find anything. There were no goodbyes.”
South Kingstown Police Department said no foul play is suspected, with Police Chief Matthew Moynihan confirming Wein’s death to Us: “Our department has expressed condolences to the family, and the investigation into the matter has concluded.”
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Given the tragic news, Lebeouf said that Wein’s passing “could have been self-inflicted, but that also doesn’t fit.”
“He loved the water. He was of Norwegian descent. We called him ‘Prince Eric the Red,’” she recalled. “He recently got a pirate ship tattooed on his arm. He was so proud of it. He loved it. He loved the ocean, but I can’t see him succumbing to it intentionally.”
Leboeuf continued: “His smile lit up the room, he would tell silly jokes all the time,” she said of Wein, who also loved the New England metal scene.
“To know him was to love him.”
Us Weekly
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