A search party looking for another missing person found human remains in a wooded area of Kansas City, Missouri, on January 28, 2017. The body was about six to eight feet from the road, down a small embankment near 53rd Street and North Brighton Avenue, in brush that was hard to access and hidden from casual view. The remains were later identified as 19-year-old Dante Jamal Jefferson of Merriam, Kansas, who had been missing since December 5, 2016.

Jefferson was last seen getting into a gray Chrysler sedan near 18th Street and The Paseo in Kansas City. His mother reported him missing to the Merriam Police Department in January after he failed to contact the family, which was said to be out of character. The Jackson County Medical Examiner had difficulty identifying the remains and determining a cause of death because of weeks of exposure, and authorities classified the death as a homicide.

The Kansas City Police Department asked the public for information about the gray vehicle and Jefferson’s final movements; no arrest or public naming of a suspect was announced immediately after the identification. If anyone knew Dante, saw that gray Chrysler, or has information about his last known movements, please share what is known with investigators.