In December of 2024, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and the Henry County coroner released a sketch made by archaeologists from the Human Osteology Laboratory at the Illinois State Museum. The sketch was created based on the skeletal remains found in a field outside Kewanee on March 10, 2024.
The skeletal remains were determined to be that of a Caucasian man with a height of between 5’6” and 5′ 9” and an age between 30 and 53 years old. The subject would have been in good physical shape and had previous trauma to their head. No other characteristics nor the cause of the man’s death could be determined.
On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Ben Franklin with the HCSO said that after the sketch was released, tips came into the sheriff’s office.
“All of that was checked into,” he said.
Now authorities are turning to technology, Franklin said, and DNA collected from the human remains was recently sent off to the Illinois State Crime Lab.
“Our hope is with this DNA, we can find a relative and put all of the pieces together,” he said.
Franklin couldn’t say how quickly results will come back from the state lab, since samples are prioritized, but he hopes it will be soon.
“Any updates we can put out, we’re certainly going to do that,” Franklin said, adding that if they can generate something from the DNA, they can try to match it to a relative and “give the family some closure.”
The incident is still an open investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at 309-937-3911. The lead investigator for the case is Sgt. Det. Jake Koster.
