The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is pursuing strong leads to identify human remains discovered by hikers in rough terrain between Highway 70 and Interstate 40.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said investigators are working with the medical examiners office as well as a dentist’s office in a county west of Putnam County to confirm the identity. The body had been at the location for several months and was heavily decayed, making visual identification impossible.
“We believe we have a really good lead at this point in time,” Farris said. “It’s going to take a few days before we can get confirmation, but we do believe we have a very good lead on who this actually could possibly be.”
Farris said the individual was found with clothes still on, which provided clues matching missing persons reports filed months ago. The department is collaborating with investigators from another sheriff’s office three or four counties away to piece together the timeline.
“So we, and once we work the crime scene, if we don’t get what we need right then, then it’s very difficult to go back and it certainly tarnishes the evidence,” Farris said. “So we work very hard to secure the crime scene and to be very methodical in our work, not leaving anything out and undone for later as things develop once we start going down the road of identification and putting things together of what could have or might have happened at this location.”
Farris said the initial step in the investigation was securing the area because deputies had to treat the location as a potential homicide scene. The rough terrain made accessing and processing the site challenging for law enforcement.
“Well, based on our lead and based on what we found at the crime scene, if it is who we believe that there’s a really good possibility that it is, then it was probably most likely self-inflicted,” Farris said. “So we will keep working and working that angle and see and, and a lot of that depends on medical examiner as well.”
Farris said the citizens who discovered the remains helped the investigation by leaving the area undisturbed and immediately contacting authorities. Identifying the body will ultimately bring answers to a waiting family.
“I mean, we would much rather people call to make sure and let us do what we do,” Farris said. “But yeah, everybody’s been really good about calling and, and helping, and that’s grateful. That’s how we work. It’s very difficult to do what we do and be very successful at it without the citizens help.”
Farris said he hopes to have a final solution and confirmation of the identity in the coming days.
