Human bones found by Kansas hunter identified as missing man, Wichita police say

The human bones found by a Kansas hunter last month have been identified as the remains of a man who was reported missing a year and a half ago.

Police confirmed the bones belonged to Donald Cook, 56, of Wichita, Officer Charley Davidson said in a news release.

A deer hunter had called police at around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 30 when he found skeletal remains in a wooded area near 55th South and Clifton. Investigators collected evidence and examined the area, and the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center identified the remains, police said.

Cook was reported missing at around 6 p.m. on May 15, 2017, Davidson said. A 74-year-old woman made the report at a home in the 1500 block of North Pershing.

The Kansas Missing Report said that Cook’s pickup was found in the area of 47th and Madison.

The bones were found in an area along the Arkansas River about 4 miles downstream from where the pickup was found. It is unknown how the remains ended up where they were found by the hunter.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

Cook had a lengthy criminal record, Kansas Department of Corrections records show.

He was first sentenced to state prison in 1994 for possessing drugs in Sedgwick County. In the 24 years since then, he has been convicted of 48 crimes in Barber, Butler, Reno, Sedgwick and Sumner counties, state prison records show. Theft, burglary, forgery and drug possession were the most common crimes.

In 2012, Cook and another man were arrested in Maize after a police chase that started in Reno County.

In 2014, Cook was arrested in connection to a domestic violence homicide. Law enforcement said he didn’t fire the gun, but he was charged with concealing it from investigators.

This story was originally published December 17, 2018 at 4:21 PM.