SAN AUGUSTINE COUNTY, TX (KTRE) -
Investigators
from the San Augustine County Sheriff's Office have tentatively identified the
skeletal human remains found in a densely wooded area off County Road 336 in
early October.
"We've
likely determined the man's identity," Gary Cunningham, the SACSO's chief
deputy, said. "We believe that the remains are of a Nacogdoches County man that
went missing eight years ago, but we're waiting on the results of the DNA
analysis before we say that we're certain it's him."
Cunningham
said the remnants of clothing found near the man's remains were in such a state
of deterioration that it indicated the body had been there for years. In
addition, family members of the missing Nacogdoches County man confirmed that
some of the evidence found at the scene belonged to him.
Determining
the cause of death may be altogether more difficult. Cunningham said there were
visible or readily identifiable wounds that would have indicated a cause of
death.
"We will
continue to work on this, but with investigations like these, there comes a
point where you just can't go any further," Cunningham said.
Cunningham
stressed that SACSO is assisting the Texas Rangers and the Nacogdoches County
Sheriff's Office in the investigation. Chief Deputy Tom Masten was unavailable for comment Thursday
afternoon.
A logging
crew discovered the remains on Oct. 8. After investigators arrived on the
scene, they sent photos of the skeletal remains to a forensic anthropologist,
who confirmed that the bones were human.
The boxes
were boxed and shipped to North Texas in hopes of determining the cause of
death and who the person was. Back in October, Cunningham said he had no
knowledge of who it might be, but did confirm a vehicle was towed from the area
a long time ago.
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