BRUNSWICK — The DNA analysis of hairs from a sweater and hand held mirror helped authorities identify a man whose body was found three weeks ago hanging from a tree in a wooded area off Bath Road.

The Brunswick Police Department today identified the man as 79-year-old Raymond Graebe of Brunswick.

The State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death as a suicide by hanging. Police in a statement issued Tuesday said Graebe’s body was found hanging from a tree on Dec. 22.

Graebe had set up a makeshift tent near railroad tracks and appeared to have been living there for some time.

His body was decomposed which slowed down the identification process.

After the discovery of his body, Brunswick police asked for the public’s help by revealing some key details.

When Graebe was found he had a urine catheter bag strapped to his leg – a clue that led police to believe he had a medical condition.

But Detective Sgt. Martin S. Rinaldi said it was several tips from the public that led police to an apartment on Water Street in Brunswick where Graebe had lived until he moved out last October.

Rinaldi said investigators sent a sweater and mirror from that apartment to the State Police crime lab in Augusta where technicians matched the DNA on hairs taken off those items to samples from the body.

During the course of their investigation police learned that Graebe, who had been diagnosed with cancer, was terminally ill, Rinaldi said.

Graebe was divorced and had three sons living across the country. After notifying his family, police decided to release his name.

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