NEW CASTLE — Teenagers taking a day off from school on "Senior Skip Day" made a ghastly discovery Tuesday, when they found the body of a man down a shaft at Fort Stark.

NEW CASTLE — Teenagers taking a day off from school on "Senior Skip Day" made a ghastly discovery Tuesday, when they found the body of a man down a shaft at Fort Stark.



Police confirmed the body of a 33-year-old man was found hanging down a 15-foot ammunition elevator shaft at the fort at the end of Wild Rose Lane. After investigating, police deemed the manner of death a suicide, he said.



"They'll remember today," Police Chief Don White said of the teenagers who found the body. "I'm sure it's something that they don't want to see again."



Mike Fessenden, a Rye landscaper working on the lawn at 149 Wild Rose Lane on Tuesday, said the daughter of the man who lives at the home and two other teenagers were exploring the fort when they noticed a duffel bag and a rope leading down the shaft.



At the bottom of the shaft was the body of a bearded man, Fessenden said.



"They thought it was a training dummy," he said.



The teenagers then alerted Fessenden and brought him to the site. He said what he saw shocked him. The man's hands appeared to be behind his back and a chair was knocked down nearby, he said.



White confirmed the man's hands were handcuffed behind his back. He said the man left a note describing how he planned to kill himself.



A state police K-9 was called in to search the fort, but nothing was found to lead the police to believe the death was suspicious, White said.



Along with the duffel bag was a DVD, a Dan Brown novel and some figurines, according to Fessenden.



Volunteers who help run the fort arrived as news spread of the police investigation. Police roped off the entrance to the fort with yellow tape and asked reporters to keep back as the investigation progressed.



Joan Hammond, assistant director of the fort, said that certain areas are off-limits because they pose a danger to people exploring the area, known as Jerry's Point on the southeast corner of New Castle Island. "We always try to keep the kids out of there," she said.



Fessenden said he called police at about noon. By about 4:30 p.m., investigators were clearing the scene and a National Wrecker Service tow truck was removing a silver Honda Civic with Massachusetts plates from the fort's parking lot.



Police did not identify the man and said they were seeking his next of kin. White estimated the death occurred sometime within a couple hours of the gate opening at 9 a.m.



For a quiet town such as New Castle, the police activity caused a stir for locals who walked and biked along the road in an attempt to see what was going on.



"You don't have things like this in New Castle at all," said Betty Thayer of Portsmouth, whose daughter lives on Wild Rose Lane.