Authorities in Florida on Wednesday found human remains believed to be those of a teenager who disappeared nearly 20 years ago.
Autumn Lane McClure, 16, of Ormond Beach, was last seen on May 10, 2004, when her boyfriend dropped her off at Volusia Mall, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Investigators dug up a “suspected burial site” in the Ormond Beach area on Wednesday afternoon and made the gruesome discovery, the statement said.
“Sheriff’s detectives continued to investigate the case in the nearly 20 years that followed, obtaining DNA from family members, re-interviewing friends and possible witnesses, and identifying a person of interest in 2021,” the sheriff’s office said. “That person died in May 2022, but the investigation continued.”
The possible discovery of the body of McClure, a student at Mainland High School, was not the conclusion his detectives wanted, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Wednesday on X. He added the investigation showed his agency cares about victims, whether from recent cases or from cases decades ago.
“Not the result anyone hoped for in 2004 or ever since, but I am very proud of the work that went into this discovery 20 years later,” Chitwood wrote. “At the very least we can say we never gave up on Autumn McClure’s case. Prayers and condolences to the family tonight.”
Chitwood told reporters at a news conference Thursday that investigators were able to recover "99.9%" of McClure's remains. The medical examiner's office should soon conclude that the remains are McClure's, Chitwood said. But he added that determining her cause of death may prove difficult.
As for the person of interest eyed in her death: "The sad part is he'll never face [justice] in this world for the evil that he perpetrated," Chitwood said. "But sure enough, I'm hoping that God, when he took his last breath, on May 26 of 2022, that maybe he had a vision of where ... he was headed."