NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi authorities have positively identified a man’s remains discovered along the Mississippi River last month.
The Adams County Coroner’s Office said Monday the partial skeletal remains were those of Timothy Howell Hearn, of Vicksburg, who went missing from a towboat in St. Joseph, Louisiana, in November 2018.
Coroner James Lee said the remains were found in early July in an area known as Anna’s Bottom. The remains were sent to a forensics laboratory in St. Louis, Missouri, where they were matched against DNA provided by Hearn’s family, The Vicksburg Post reported.
A cause of death could not be determined, he said.
“This is a sad but happy day for the Hearn family,” Lee said. “When I spoke to the mother … she broke down in tears, and to be totally honest, I cried too. The family has been waiting nearly two years for any information regarding their loved one. I’m very sorry that the incident happened and the family is in my prayers. However, I’m glad we were able to identify him.”
Hearn, a deckhand on a towboat owned by Riverside Construction of Vicksburg, was reported missing at about 3 a.m. on Nov 3, 2018. The days-long search for Hearn involved the U.S. Coast Guard, along with deputies from the Tensas Parish Sheriff’s Office in St. Joseph and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Hearn had been working for Riverside Construction for less than a month at the time he went missing.
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