Authorities struggle to identify remains of man found Saturday

The identity of the man whose body was found in the woods near Wappapello Saturday remains unknown.

A hunter out scouting the woods off of County Road 517 Saturday morning found the body of a man authorities believe may have been missing since mid-September.

Officials had hoped Tuesday’s autopsy performed by Dr. Russell Deidiker at Farmington would help in the identification of the man.

“We’re still trying to make identification on him at this point,” said Butler County Coroner Andy Moore.

Identification, Moore said, will not be made by “dental records per se, maybe a possible fingerprint.”

Moore is not releasing any details at this time regarding a preliminary cause of death.

The time between when the man died and the time he was found is “making things more difficult,” Moore said.

“There is no foul play,” according to Butler County Chief Deputy Wes Popp. “(Investigator) Kelly (Thompson) said Deidiker said he didn’t see any (evidence) of foul play.”

Based on what Thompson reported following the autopsy, Popp said, it’s “all up to forensics now. We’re going to have to rely on DNA from what I understand.”

Authorities learned of the death at about 11 a.m. Saturday when a local man came to the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators, according to earlier reports, subsequently found what “appeared to be a severely decomposed male human body” in the woods off of County Road 517.