MONCTON, N.B. -- The family of a New Brunswick man who had been missing since January are in mourning after his remains were found in a wooded area of Westmorland County over the weekend.

Police are treating Adam Grant Howard’s death as suspicious and his family is asking anyone with information to come forward.

“It’s been really rough. It’s been really hard, you know,” says Howard’s mother, Sandra Slater.

“My girls are grieving terribly and you’ve got to be kind of the in-between between the two of them and then on top of that you have to deal with his death yourself. He was my baby.”

Police say 27-year-old Howard was last seen at a home on Route 115 in Irishtown, N.B., on Jan, 6.

Police have determined Howard was texting with friends that morning and had asked for a drive.

Police know Howard left the home around noon that day, but they aren’t certain whether he left on foot or in a vehicle.

He was reported missing to police two days later, on Jan. 8.

Howard’s mother and two sisters flew to New Brunswick to search for him after he disappeared.

“If he was alive I wanted to make sure that I kept hope and kept looking so that he would know how much he is loved,” says his sister, Amy Howard.

On Saturday, the RCMP received a report that some of Howard’s personal belongings had been found near a wooded lot in Lakeville, N.B.

They searched the area and also found human remains, which were later confirmed to be those of Howard.

“We held onto just that much hope that he was still alive and that hope got smaller and smaller and smaller,” says Slater. “It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride and all I can tell you is that rollercoaster ride is over.”

While the rollercoaster may be over, the pain lives on. Howard’s family says they will remember him as a kind and caring person.

“The type of guy that would go to the end of the road for you,” says Amy Howard. “He would give you the shirt off his back if he had nothing else to give you.”

“Pretty broken,” says his sister, Christine Howard. “I was just really hoping I would just get to hug him one more time.”

Police say they are treating his death as suspicious and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

It’s a message echoed by Howard’s grieving family.

“We need people to come forward with information,” says Christine Howard. “We need to know what happened.”

Anyone with information about Howard’s death, or who was in contact with him after Jan. 6, is asked to contact the Southeast District Crime Reduction Unit at 506-533-5151.