Credits: Yahoo News
After a monthslong search, authorities believe that human remains discovered at a wastewater facility in Texas belong to missing college student Caleb Harris.
City workers performing maintenance at a wastewater lift station in Corpus Christi, Texas, discovered human remains in a well last month and immediately notified the police, the Corpus Christi Police Department reported on Facebook.
While the remains showed “no obvious signs of homicide,” they were sent to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination. However, due to the “advanced state of decomposition,” the medical examiner could not identify the remains or determine the manner or cause of death.
DNA samples were subsequently sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) for further analysis, comparing them with DNA from Harris’ parents. According to the Missing Persons DNA Report issued by UNTCHI, the remains were “approximately 2.4 sextillion times more likely to be observed if the unidentified remains originated from a biological child of [Caleb Harris’s parents] rather than if the unidentified remains originated from an unrelated individual from the Caucasian population.”
In response to the confirmation, Harris’ family released a statement on Wednesday: “We all have heavy hearts this evening as we learned of the positive identification of our sweet Caleb. We will grieve our son. Thank you for your prayers and support during this tragic time.”
Caleb Harris, a 21-year-old student at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, was reported missing in early March. His disappearance was noted after he walked his dog early in the morning, but never returned. His roommates couldn’t locate him, and his family subsequently reported him missing. According to police, Harris left behind his keys, wallet, and vehicle, but took his phone, which had been turned off.
In the months following Harris’ disappearance, investigators executed over 50 digital search warrants, submitted 82 preservation requests, and analyzed over 1500 GB of data.
