MARSHALL, N.Y. (WKTV) - Kirkland Police confirm that the body of John Bruce has been found in a heavy brush field after he had been missing for nearly a month.

The search for the 64-year-old Clinton man resumed Sunday morning after he had gone missing in October. He was last seen on October 16 at his apartment at 3014 Fountain Street.

Kirkland Police tell NEWSChannel 2 that a body matching Bruce's identification was found in heavy brush around 11:00 a.m. Sunday.

The body was found in a gully behind a house in Marshall just over the Kirkland town line. This area is south of where Bruce's residence was.

Members of the "Eagle Valley Search and Rescue Dog Teams" were called in to conduct a ground search. On Saturday, eight special trained K-9 handlers and their dogs searched rural fields, woods and buildings for about a mile perimeter on the properties adjacent to Fountain Street, Route 12 in Kirkland and Maxwell Road in Marshall.

Sunday morning, police say the dogs picked up a scent, leading them to the body.

The Clinton Fire Department had to be called in to extricate the body from the hill and gully area. The body was transported to the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's office by Oneida County Coroner Robert Gulla.

Police say that Bruce's family out of state has been notified.

Kirkland Police Chief Daniel English says Bruce's loved ones last heard from him around the middle of October. English said, "He was active with a group that placed bridge on a regular basis, but he did keep in communication with his sister in Florida, but some time around the 16th and a little before that communication faltered and stopped."

Bruce's sister and also his fellow card players he sees on a weekly basis here, asked police to check on his well being back on October 17th.

Bruce lived alone in his rural Fountain Street apartment, and English says police were very concerned after finding what was left of his prescriptions. Cheif English said, "Some of his prescriptions and so on and so forth were refilled on the 10th, and we're finding that part of those prescriptions were missing, and one of them were a sleeping pill, so the concern is that he actually planned to take a walk in the woods and pass away, so we're doing more of a recovery check now to see if he's in this area."

English says it would have been unusual for Bruce to go for a walk. English said, "He didn't have any type of history of walking, and you know on foot, it was the type of thing that he wandered off to be alone and if he was going to take sleeping pills to pass away that was kind of his plan, but we don't know that, because we're not even positive he's out there."

On Sunday, Rita Argiros, the President of Eagle Valley Search and Rescue Dog Team told NEWSChannel 2 she and all of her volunteers are glad to help families in their time of need. Argiros said, "It's terrible not knowing what happened to your loved one, and the not knowing can be a stress on people for years and years."