Discovery of bones stirs memories of missing persons in Wichita County
The discovery of human bones between Wichita Falls and Iowa Park Saturday has raised far more questions than answers at least for the moment.
The remains, in a field off U.S. Highway 287 near Peterson Road, were found by a passerby who notified the Wichita County Sheriff’s Office early in the morning.
WCSO investigators, game wardens and DPS troopers converged on the scene, using tracking dogs and a drone to scour the area for clues.
When the Sheriff’s Office held a press conference in the afternoon, little was known other than human bones had been found. At the time, no clothing or possessions had been found. Identity, sex, age, cause of death — all were unknown.
WCSO Deputy Melvin Joyner said it appeared the remains had been there a long time and were being sent to an anthropology laboratory in Denton in an effort to establish an identity.
Joyner said investigators would revisit missing persons cases in the area, but he had no new information Tuesday.
Because nothing remained but bones, Joyner said he was not hopeful of quick answers about who the person was or how that person died.
The remains were near a busy highway, so the person could have come from anywhere and may have died under many possible circumstances — illness, accident, homicide or suicide.
The World Population Review reports more than 20,000 missing person cases in the U.S. are unresolved, and more than 14,000 bodies remain unidentified.
Texas alone had 2,585 open missing person cases on record as of September 2023, and the bones found in Wichita County will be added to 1,990 sets of unidentified remains.
Some people choose to go missing, and most are eventually accounted for. Only a small number of missing person reports in Wichita County have stayed on the books over the years as cold cases.
Gregory Keith Mann Jr., 20, was last seen May 10, 1997, near his home in Fountaingate Apartments on Tower Drive. He reportedly intended to meet an unidentified person that night. He worked at Ron Roberts Ford and was driving a red 1996 Ford Mustang from his job.
The car was later found in a parking lot on McNiel Avenue. He was engaged to be married, and no possessions were missing when he vanished. Wichita Falls police said they believed Mann was the victim of foul play.
Jolee Baker was 25 years old when she was last seen alive late on Aug. 6, 1995. Very little is known about the woman or the circumstances of her disappearance.
She was 5 feet, 5 inches and 100 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Baker was disabled and had a heart-shaped tattoo with the word “Tony” on her abdomen.
She had been jailed for minor offenses in Wichita County and may have lived for a while in Odessa and Ector County.
Andreas Scott "Andy" Sims, an 11-year-old fifth grader at Jefferson Elementary School, vanished from his home in the 4600 block of Stanford Street on Dec. 9, 1961.
Sims and his brother had been watching TV when Sims said he wanted to go outside. His mother reported him missing after she arrived home from work at a medical clinic.
The boy wore glasses and suffered from the effects of an accident earlier in his life. Despite widespread searches, and the dragging of nearby Lake Wichita, Sims was never found. His is the oldest active cold case in Wichita County.
Anyone with knowledge about any missing persons is asked to contact Wichita Falls Crimestoppers at 940-322-9888 or the appropriate law enforcement agency.
More: Ex-Allred Prison guards indicted in federal sweep
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Discovery of bones stirs memories of missing persons in Wichita County
