No known cause of death after autopsy of missing man found by deer hunter
Authorities still don’t know how a 56-year-old Wichitan whose skeletal remains were found along the Arkansas River last month died — and likely never will.
Pathologists and a forensic anthropologist who looked over Donald Cook’s bones couldn’t find any injuries or other signs that pointed to what killed him, an autopsy report filed in Sedgwick County District Court on Dec. 21 says. The report lists Cook’s cause and manner of death as “undetermined.”
Cook, who was identified through dental records, was reported missing from his Wichita home in May 2017. A deer hunter discovered some of his bones in a wooded area near 55th South and Clifton on Nov. 30, about 4 miles downstream from where Cook’s pickup had previously been found. Police have previously said they aren’t sure how Cook’s remains ended up there.
