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Body found in remote North California forest confirmed as man missing for over 15 years

2 mins read

Authorities confirmed that the body of a man who had been missing for over 15 years was found last year in a far forest in Northern California.

David Neily disappeared in April 2006. He was then 69 when a family member saw him in the coastal town of Albion, according to the statement of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday, SFGATE reported.

Later, Neily’s vehicles were located by investigators in the small town of Westport. His case then went cold.

The statement furthered that the sheriff’s office received information from a private nature reserve employee last May saying that they found a human body in a mature Douglas fir forest located in Branscomb. The area was about 5.6 kilometers or 3.5 miles away from Neily’s vehicle.

The human remains were confirmed to belong to Neily after it was subjected to DNA analysis and dental records inspected by California Assembly member and forensic dentistry expert Jim Wood.

The statement said that no traces of trauma were found on the examinations.

The investigation on the circumstances over the disappearance of Neily continues through the sheriff’s office.

This undated photo released by the Mendocino County Sheriffs Office, Detective Unit shows missing person David Neily. Human remains found in a remote Northern California forest last year have been identified as those belonging to Neily, a man reported missing for more than 15 years, authorities said Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. (Mendocino County Sheriffs Office via AP)

Lisa Neily, the man’s daughter, meanwhile expressed previously that foul play was involved in her father’s death.

“We’re not giving up hope that we can find out what happened to him. We’re not giving up,” she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

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