A man from Long Island was left astonished after he unearthed the remains of his long-lost father buried beneath the crawlspace of his childhood home. This shocking revelation came to light in 2018, just before Halloween, following months of determined excavation by Michael Carroll in an attempt to uncover the truth behind a family enigma.

Michael Carroll’s quest to solve the mystery of his father’s disappearance is the focus of the upcoming documentary, “The Secrets We Bury,” set to air on Investigation Discovery (ID). Michael recounted how his father, George Carroll, vanished in 1963 when Michael was merely eight months old. Over the years, Michael’s late mother, Dorothy, maintained that George had gone out to buy cigarettes one day and simply never returned. Within the family, there were whispers that George had possibly relocated to Korea, where he was rumored to have started a new life with another woman.

For decades, the fate of George Carroll remained an unresolved question that haunted Michael and his siblings. The discovery in the crawlspace finally brought some closure to this haunting chapter of their lives, sparking a mix of emotions and raising even more questions about the past.

He says his late mother Dorothy always told him his father went out for cigarettes and ‘just never came back’, and rumors within the family were that he met a woman in Korea and started a new life with her. 

For decades, Michael and his siblings wondered what truly happened to their father. 

In a bizarre breakthrough, Michael’s sister Jean Kennedy says she consulted a psychic in 2010, who told her that her father was murdered – and he had been buried in their home the entire time. 

According to the ID documentary, George’s brother had also told Michael that his side of the family had long believed that George was murdered.  

Michael, who bought the family home from his mother in 1993 five years before she died of cancer, began a desperate bid for answers and decided to start digging. 

In October 2018, with the help of his sons Chris and Mike Jr., the mystery was finally solved, as George Carroll’s decomposed remains were discovered inside the home. 

Long Island man Michael Carroll (pictured) says he was stunned to find the remains of his long-missing father buried in the crawlspace inside his family home where he grew up

Carroll, seen discovering the remains with his sons, was just eight months old when his father George vanished, sparking a family mystery for decades about his potential murder 

Filmmaker Patricia E. Gillespie, who produced the documentary, told Fox News that the Carroll siblings had almost given up hope of finding their father’s remains. 

‘For many, many years, people thought Mike and his sister Jean Kennedy were crazy,’ she said. 

‘They were just told, ‘Your dad left. Why can’t you accept this?’’ 

She said while many may dismiss Jean’s use of a psychic to crack the case, the stricken daughter told her it was her ‘long distance call to her mom.’ 

‘Like all of us, when you lose somebody you care about, there are all these conversations you wish you could have had or things you wish you could have worked out. And for Jean, I think the psychic was an opportunity to do that — to make that long-distance call to the great beyond,’ she said. 

Despite the relief of finding his father’s remains, the discovery ‘opened up a door to something so much deeper’, the producer continued. 

‘You’re looking for a man, you find him in these dramatic circumstances — the end, right?’ 

‘I think a lot of stories end there. But for them, it was just the beginning of figuring out how to reconcile with this. And that answer wasn’t found in forensics, a police report or a court proceeding.’ 

When cops investigated the remains, forensic tests proved they belonged to George, and his death was eventually ruled as a homicide. 

The key piece of evidence in that ruling was tests that showed his skull had been fractured by blunt force trauma. 

In a bizarre breakthrough, Michael’s sister Jean Kennedy (pictured) says she consulted a psychic in 2010, who told her that her father was murdered – and he had been buried in their home the entire time

Although never criminally investigated, Carroll said he believes the person responsible for his father’s death was his eventual stepfather, Richard Darress – pictured right with Carroll’s mother Dorothy 

Although never criminally investigated, Michael told the documentary that he believes the person responsible for his father’s death was his eventual stepfather, Richard Darress. 

Darress was a handyman that had been hired to help with a construction project on the home, and soon after George Carroll disappeared, he married Michael’s father Dorothy and moved into the home. 

According to the documentary, the Carroll siblings alleged that Darress was abusive, and had sexually assaulted the girls when they were young. 

Darress died in June 2018 at age 77, according to Fox News. 

The discovery of George’s remains was bittersweet, the family says, as it allowed them some closure to the mystery while not affording justice for the murder. 

On Oct. 25, 2019, George was laid to rest with military honors at a ceremony in Long Island. 

‘They finally filled in the hole in the basement,’ Gillespie concluded.

‘There’s a feeling that you can finally grieve, that you’ve done what you needed to do for your family — both the ones who are here and the ones who are gone… This story goes beyond just the mystery of how this man disappeared.’