Missouri morel hunters continue to discover unpleasant surprise — human remains

Instead of mushrooms, Missouri morel hunters are finding dead bodies — or at least parts of them.

In what's become a seemingly annual occurrence, human remains, some belonging to people who've been missing for several years, are being found in secluded wooded areas by Missourians whose eyes were peeled for edible fungi.

The unpleasant discoveries aren't common, but they're not rare.

Twice this month at the height of morel season — including one case in southwest Missouri and another near Kansas City — someone whose attention was locked on the ground found something completely unexpected.

In the Ozarks, investigators in Douglas County said the body of a missing man was found by morel hunters west of Ava near State Highway T. He was later identified as 37-year-old Sparta resident Curtis Goodwin, who disappeared in 2018. The Sheriff's Office is awaiting reports from a forensic pathologist to determine the man's cause of death.

In Independence, a man on a trail came across a human skull on his morel hunt. He reported the findings to authorities, who are working to identify the remains.

Missouri Department of Conservation spokesman Francis Skalicky said that unlike game hunters, whose eyes are often forward, morel hunters are paying extra attention to details in the dirt and grass under their feet.

"The (morel hunters) are often looking for a brown object on brown ground, so they're really focused," Skalicky said. "That can lead to them finding other things, like human remains."

Skalicky, a longtime MDC employee, said he has yet to hear about a morel hunter finding human remains in a state conservation area. Many of the cases have occurred on private land.

"You hear about these cases with morel hunters in other parts of the country, too," Skalicky said. "A lot of people will report what they think are human remains, but it ends up being an animal."

It doesn't appear to be a recent pattern, either.

In 2017, someone started an online message board thread on Reddit with the headline "Why do mushroom hunters seem to frequently find human remains?" that generated a lengthy discussion between dozens of posters.

Many offered their theories for the established trend.

"(The morel hunters) are working in places where most people don't go, plus they're going over the ground with a fine-toothed comb, so it makes sense that they'd spot more remains than visitors who are there for other reasons," commented Reddit user HectorBaya. "It's also important to remember that a lot of the bodies they find aren't murder victims, so looking for some links there seems like a bit of a stretch. Most are the victims of suicide or misadventure, or homeless people who were camping in the area and died of natural causes or exposure."

Here are other cases of Missouri morel hunters finding human remains:

April 2023: A mushroom hunter discovered human remains in a wooded area in Pevely, a few miles south of St. Louis. The remains were later identified by authorities as Joan Giudicy, 64, who been reported missing for months.

April 2023: In rural Daviess County, northeast of Kansas City, a morel hunter found remains near a farm that were later identified as 28-year-old Skyler Ware, who had been reported missing for three years. Authorities ruled Ware's death a homicide.

May 2022: In Dallas County on land near Long Lane, mushroom hunters discovered an old "hand-dug well full of water," according to a post on the Dallas County Sheriff's Office website. The post said that when the mushroom hunters stuck a long stick inside the well to determine its length "to their surprise, what appeared to be a human body emerged." The well was drained and the body was removed and was later identified as 60-year-old Kevin Rogers of Springfield.

April 2022: Ray County authorities said skeletal remains of a woman were found by a mushroom hunter in a wooded area about five miles north of Henrietta. The remains were later identified as Nicole Kasch, who also went by Colette Greene, and her death was ruled a homicide. Her body had reportedly been in the woods between six and 18 months.

April 2021: The remains of Deborah Brown, a woman in her 60s who reportedly hadn't been seen in years, were found by a mushroom hunter near State Highway 248 and Gretna Road near Branson. Authorities do not appear to have released a cause of death.

May 2019: Human remains were found near Aurora by a morel hunter that were later identified as Jason Artrip, 36, who had reportedly been missing for six years. Authorities do not appear to have released a cause of death.

April 2018: Cass County authorities said a morel hunter found human remains near Harrisonville that were later identified as Robert Kayson Stewart, 25. There were reportedly no signs of foul play.

April 2017: A mushroom hunter found human remains in Harrisonville in a farm field that were later identified as Vincent J. Royal, 36, who had reportedly fled from deputies two weeks before his body was found.

April 2017: The remains of 21-year-old Jessica Runion were also found by a morel hunter in Cass County, months after she was reported missing. She was later determined to be a homicide victim.

Ryan Collingwood covers a wide range of topics for the News-Leader with an emphasis on public safety. He can be reached by phone at 417-258-8174 and email at rcollingwood@news-leader.com. You can also follow Ryan on social media at X.com/rwcollingwood.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri morel hunters continue to discover human remains