Polk County police reopen case of Kyle Thomas Rugg; family offering $25K reward

KATY, Texas (KTRE) - The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says they’re re-investigating the death of a Houston area man who disappeared seven years ago.

Sheriff Byron Lyons made the announcement today during a press conference in Katy.

Rugg disappeared On March 3, 2015, in the Lake Livingston area of Polk County. Authorities tell us Rugg attended a party near the state park area of the lake. Investigators believe he stayed in the county the following day to fish with friends, but he was never heard from again.

Search teams from Harris County scoured Lake Livingston but never found any clues to his disappearance. January 2020, Polk County officials tell us they found human remains, not knowing they were that of Rugg.

Investigators sent his remains to a pathology lab in Fort Worth where the ID matched Rugg’s DNA. Today, Rugg’s family joined investigators as they announced they were reopening the investigation into Rugg’s death.

If you have any information that can help place Kyle’s whereabouts before his disappearance, you’re urged to call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The family says the original $25,000 reward is still available.

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