Human remains found in 2021 have been identified as a Kansas man missing since 2019
Humans remains found April 2021 in Salina have been identified as a Kansas man missing since November 2019.
Kenneth Frances Reitcheck of Salina was 69 in November 2019 when he was reported missing to the Salina Police Department, the Saline County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Reitcheck was living at the Salina Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter, at the time of his disappearance, Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said in a follow-up email.
On April 20, 2021, a skull and a small bone were found along a wooded creek in southwest Salina by some men who were hunting for wild mushrooms. Authorities also found an old tent and trash from a makeshift campsite.
Law enforcement was unable to identify who the skull belonged to, and “Initial laboratory examinations were unable to determine a match,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The remains were also examined by the Wichita State Anthropology Department who provided some details of an estimated height and age of the person,” the sheriff’s office added.
Saline investigators sent the remains to Houston, Texas-based Othram Lab for advanced DNA testing. On Monday, the remains were identified as Reitcheck, the agency said.
His cause of death has not been determined.