Human Remains Found In Ottawa County Identified

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says human remains recently found along Highway 10 near Wyandotte have been identified as 25-year-old Clifford Eli Moss.

Sheriff Jeremy Floyd says Moss was last seen leaving his family home to go for a walk and never returned.  Less than a  month later, a human skull was found by an Ottawa County resident. 

Deputies using cadaver dogs found more remains scattered nearby. 

"We submitted those bones to the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's office for examination and as of this Friday, through DNA records they identified the bones belonging to Mr. Moss," said Sheriff Jeremy Floyd.

He told, KOAM, the CBS affiliate in Joplin, not all of Moss' remains have been found.

"We are treating it as a homicide until we can rule it further. We currently have investigators looking into the case. We'll get a cause of death as far as you know trying to find some closure for the family," said Jeremy Floyd.

He adds the sheriff's office is still conducting interviews.

"The investigators are interviewing different people and people that last seen Mr. Moss and we build the case from there," Jeremy Floyd said.

The sheriff says the remains have been returned to Moss' family.