Yet another Bermudian family is grieving and waiting for answers following the discovery of the lifeless body of Shannon Mello, 34, on the grounds of a derelict house on Union Street in Hamilton.

Mr. Mello's mother, Joanne Mello described her son, who worked in construction for ruling party MP Arthur Pitcher, as a "loving and nice" family oriented person.

A staff member at Focus Counselling Services called 911 after a member of the public came in to report the discovery shortly before 11 a.m yesterday morning.

Police have not been able to talk to the person who discovered Mr. Mello's body, The Royal Gazette understands.

Pinky Mello last saw her grandson when he left the St. David's family homestead for work Wednesday morning and the family had spent an anxious night wondering where he was when he did not return home after.

The building in which his body was found was unoccupied when Police arrived at the scene. "They evacuated" when news of the body surfaced, said one man familiar with the neighbourhood.

ZBM News last night interviewed an unidentified man who was at the scene when the body was found. He described himself as a friend of Mr. Mello and said that Mr. Mello had been a client at Focus, which provides services for recovering drug addicts, but would disappear from the programme for extended periods of time.

The report gave an inaccurate impression that Mr. Mello was a street person, family members said last night.

"It was really upsetting because they made him sound like a homeless person who is in and out of Focus," Mrs. Mello said.

"But it wasn't like that. He's lived in St. David's all his life."

While the fact that he was found on the grounds of a derelict building may lead some to conclude that he died of a drug overdose, family members were not jumping to conclusions.

They spoke frankly about his problems with drug addiction, but said that he was a hardworking, ambitious person who always came home after work to the family's St. David's homestead, where he lived with his grandmother.

"He had a drug problem before and they are always different when they are like that," she said. "But to us, he's family and he was always loving and nice."

And, his mother said, Mr. Mello also used to suffer from seizures from a serious accident when he was 17.

Kimmie Mello, an uncle, echoed his grandmother's sentiments and said his nephew was well known and well liked in St. David's.

"Yes, my nephew has been in Focus twice, many years ago. He's held down a regular job for years - he wasn't homeless," he said.

"He worked hard. Everybody has a little fault but by no means was he someone who was a street person. We don't know if he had a heart attack or seizure or something drug related." He said he was aware that people had drawn conclusions about the fact that he was in the premises of an abandoned building.

"We were baffled as a family as to why he was there also... We had a lot of concern too, last night and this morning. Then we got the call."

Until that moment, he said, the family was still worrying about his whereabouts and discussing the tragedy at the Bermuda College the day before.

"I guess you have to live everyday like it's your last," Mr. Mello said.

Mr. Mello described his nephew as a "kind spirited person" who was always ready to lend a helping hand.

"He was a very happy go lucky guy," he added. "I guess he would hit the bottle every now and again - sometimes a little too happy, but never to the point where he neglected his responsibilities."

Mr. Pitcher, Shannon Mello's third cousin, told this newspaper that he had borrowed a bike from his nephew around lunchtime Wednesday to run an errand for the crew.

"But he didn't come back," he said. "On Tuesday he worked like three men. He operated the mixer by himself and he just worked flat out. And stayed back after the guys had knocked off... The way he worked the day before, it was incredible for that to happen the next day. I was shocked."

Besides his mother and grandmother, Mr. Mello leaves behind a 14-year-old son, Shannon Jr., a sister and younger brother, two step sisters, a step brother and numerous other relatives and friends.

It is understood that there were no visible signs of injuries on Mr. Mello's body. "We're trying to recount what may have happened - from the time he left his job to the time he was found," his uncle said. "So we are just waiting on the Police and looking for answers ourselves."

Mr. Mello was officially pronounced dead at 11.30 a.m. An autopsy will be performed today. Police investigations continue.