Remains found in rural Iowa identified as boy who vanished in May, days before 11th birthday
Human remains found in rural Poweshiek County, Iowa, are those of Xavior Harrelson, the boy who went missing near Montezuma in May, just days before his 11th birthday.
The positive ID was confirmed by the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s office in a statement Friday night.
The victim was reported missing by a family friend on May 27, according to Sheriff Thomas Kriegel.
He was last seen riding his bike near the home in Montezuma where he lived with his mother. He vanished less than a week before completing the fourth grade at Montezuma Elementary School, Principal Kurt Hanna told CNN at the time.
On Sept. 30, human remains were found in a rural area approximately 3 miles northwest of Montezuma, Kriegel said.
According to the Des Moines Register, the body was found by a farmer tending to his soybean crop near, some 4 miles from the boy’s home.
On Friday, the Iowa State Medical Examiners’ Office notified the sheriff “that the human remains have been positively identified as those of Xavior Harrelson.”
The cause of death has not been released.
Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation, said that the boy’s death was being investigated as suspicious.
