Posted 11:29 am Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Hunter Finds Human Skull North of I-20
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
A hunter traipsing through a heavily wooded area north of Interstate 20 may have found the remains of a Dallas man who went missing in 2006.
Staff Writer
A hunter traipsing through a heavily wooded area north of Interstate 20 may have found the remains of a Dallas man who went missing in 2006.
Smith County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Meadows said the hunter made the discovery Monday in a wooded area about one mile east of Lavender Road.
“We received a call from Game Warden Chris Green that he had received a call from the hunter saying he had found a human skull,” he said.
Meadows said detectives were dispatched to the area and they did locate a skull, which has since been sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas to determine cause of death and possibly obtain DNA to aid in identification.
Meadows said the only person who was missing in that specific area was Mitchell “Pie” Buchanan, 70, who left his Dallas home on Oct. 24, 2006 and has not been heard from.
However, his gray 1996 Dodge Ram truck was found on the interstate near Farm-to-Market Road 14.
In December 2006, scores of volunteers joined the United Response Search and Rescue Team from the Dallas area and searched both sides of Interstate 20. Nothing was found in those searches.
The skull found Monday was located outside but less than a quarter-mile from the perimeter of the 2006 search.
Dana Ames, director of operations for the Dallas search team, said she believes the skull was found west of where the earlier search was centered.
Sheriff officials said in earlier stories that Buchanan’s family had hidden his car keys, but the man found them in a dresser drawer. He left without a wallet and may have been wearing pajamas.
He was also taking medication that in conjunction with Alzheimer’s disease can possibly lead to delusions and confusion.
Meadows said sheriff deputies and members of the Alert Academy in Big Sandy conducted an extensive search of the area on Tuesday, but failed to locate other remains.
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. CST
Meadows said detectives were dispatched to the area and they did locate a skull, which has since been sent to the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas to determine cause of death and possibly obtain DNA to aid in identification.
Meadows said the only person who was missing in that specific area was Mitchell “Pie” Buchanan, 70, who left his Dallas home on Oct. 24, 2006 and has not been heard from.
However, his gray 1996 Dodge Ram truck was found on the interstate near Farm-to-Market Road 14.
In December 2006, scores of volunteers joined the United Response Search and Rescue Team from the Dallas area and searched both sides of Interstate 20. Nothing was found in those searches.
The skull found Monday was located outside but less than a quarter-mile from the perimeter of the 2006 search.
Dana Ames, director of operations for the Dallas search team, said she believes the skull was found west of where the earlier search was centered.
Sheriff officials said in earlier stories that Buchanan’s family had hidden his car keys, but the man found them in a dresser drawer. He left without a wallet and may have been wearing pajamas.
He was also taking medication that in conjunction with Alzheimer’s disease can possibly lead to delusions and confusion.
Meadows said sheriff deputies and members of the Alert Academy in Big Sandy conducted an extensive search of the area on Tuesday, but failed to locate other remains.
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. CST
