SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Skeletal remains found in a Sacramento storm drain have finally been identified by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.
The remains were found on Dec. 8, 2020, when employees with the Department of Water Resources were cleaning out a storm drain near Gordon Drive and Stockton Blvd in Sacramento. The crew pulled what they originally thought was a stick out of their vacuum machine to unclog it and figured out it was a leg bone with a shoe attached to it. The crew immediately called the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, according to a press release.
"Water Resources works regularly with law enforcement," Michael Peterson, Water Resources Director, said. “So when our crews came across human remains, while shaken up by their discovery, they kept their cool and knew to call the Sheriff’s Office for assistance.”
The sheriff's office found another bone in the storm drain when they arrived and contacted the Sacramento County Coroner's Office to help evaluate the remains. The Coroner's Office found more bones in the storm drain that created "an almost complete human skeleton."
During the investigation into who the remains belonged to, the sheriff's office found a debit card that belonged to a man who had been missing since Nov. 2018. When family members of this missing man saw reports of the remains found on the news, they contacted the coroner's office to see if they could be related, according to the press release.
The coroner's office was able to identify the man as Jack Larson, 60, after family members provided DNA to match with the skeletal remains.
"This was a great example of County employees, that don’t usually work together, coming together to identify this local man and bring some closure to his family," Kim Gin, Sacramento County Coroner, said.
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