Larry Dean Watts (CBI)
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office announced Sunday night that advances in DNA technology have identified the skeletal remains discovered in 2019 as belonging to a man who disappeared a quarter of a century ago.
The remains, discovered at a lookout in Gateway, have been identified as those of Larry Dean Watts, who was 48 years old when he was last seen with his brother on June 16, 1997, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s Cold Case Files in Grand Junction was seen by Othram Inc., a Texas-based DNA lab that worked with the Mesa County Coroner’s Office on the case.
A hunting guide found the human remains in December 2019, and although personal items including clothing, eyeglasses and a .38 caliber revolver were found in the area, investigators were unable to identify the man or the cause of death, according to Ottram.
The Mesa County Coroner’s Office partnered with Othram earlier this year, who ran a DNA profile of the unidentified man and used forensic genetic genealogy “to provide investigative leads for the coroner’s office,” according to the DNA lab.
The coroner’s office was able to follow up on these leads and identify Watts. Investigators are now asking that anyone with information regarding Watts’ disappearance call the Mesa County Coroner’s Office at C19-743 at 970-244-1898.
Comments are closed.