Skeletal remains found Friday near Interstate 93 were identified yesterday as those of a Chichester man missing since 2001.

Lorne Boulet, 21, who suffered from schizophrenia, left his parents' home at about 5:30 p.m. July 29, 2001. He had gone for a walk and did not bring identification, money or a cell phone, said his parents, Evelyn and Lorne Boulet Sr. They never heard from him again.

Yesterday, Chief Medical Examiner Thomas Andrew matched Boulet's dental records with teeth found at the scene, said David Ruoff, an assistant attorney general investigating the case. The police also found a sandal, a white fleece shirt and black fleece pants - the clothes Boulet was last seen wearing.

"We do have closure, even though it hurts," Lorne Boulet Sr. said. "It's really tough when your dreams are shattered. . . . Instead of your son walking back through the door, you get a knock on the door from the state and local police."

A forensic anthropologist will examine the bones to determine the cause and time of death, but that may not be known for several weeks, Ruoff said. Lorne Boulet Sr. said the police speculate that his son may have been hit by a car while walking on the highway. Ruoff said the cause of death was unknown, and he wouldn't rule out any possibilities until the investigation was over.

Boulet's remains were found about 30 feet down an embankment near Exit 12 on the southbound side of I-93, Ruoff said. A Concord resident found the remains last Friday when he was walking in a wooded area near Hall Street.

Boulet's family never gave up hope of finding him alive. Evelyn and Lorne Boulet hired a bounty hunter and a private investigator, contacted every homeless shelter in the country, and got Boulet's picture featured on a car during a California NASCAR race.

They made trips to California and Massachusetts on leads that turned up no news. Yesterday afternoon, their answering machine message still ended with, "If this is little Lorne, we need to hear from you. We love you and we miss you."

"I felt so bad for them," said Sid Carlson, a private investigator and retired Massachusetts state trooper who looked for Boulet in October 2001. "From day one, I didn't see one concrete bit of evidence we had that he was spotted here or spotted there," Carlson said yesterday.

Boulet's parents thought his disappearance was related to his mental illness. Boulet was diagnosed with schizophrenia several months after his graduation from Pembroke Academy. His father blames Boulet's use of the drug Ecstasy.

Before his diagnosis, Boulet was a popular student who loved to work out and dreamed of opening his own gym. But in the months after his graduation, Boulet slept all day and gained weight, his parents said. He suffered from hallucinations and withdrew from his friends.

Boulet also grew suspicious of his parents and his doctors. Sometimes, he stopped taking his medication. Boulet's parents worried that he left because he thought they were going to send him to a psychiatric hospital. In that way, the news of his death brought some relief.

"Our thoughts had been that he had left and was not in a good place mentally," Lorne Boulet said. "We know that our son is safe now. He's in heaven with his grandparents."

Concord resident Bruce Young found Boulet's remains last Friday at about 4 p.m. Young, 30, had just applied for a job at the Sandwich Depot on Hall Street and decided to walk on a path through nearby woods that he last used when he was a child at Rundlett Middle School, he said. The path leads out to South Main Street and passes the South End Marsh, where he and his friends used to play, he said.

Part of the path was overgrown, and Young walked up toward the highway where it was clearer. Then Young saw what looked like a white or gray sweater or sweatshirt, he said. He walked closer and saw the top of a human skull and what he thinks was a leg bone.

"It wasn't like Stand By Mewhere I heard a story and I went and found it," he said. "I just happened to stumble upon it."

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