BRISTOL — Skeletal remains found in rural Bristol Tuesday, May 3, have been tied to a cold case of a missing Elkhart woman.

Anastacia Cortes Reyes was last seen on Aug. 26, 2014, but dental records positively identified the remains as belonging to the missing mother.

The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, the Elkhart County Coroner’s Office and a team of anthropologists worked together to recover the remains after they were found by a man searching for Morel mushrooms in a field in the 55000 block of County Road 27.

According to the Elkhart Police Department, an autopsy will not be conducted. The team of anthropologists will examine each bone to see if a cause or manner of death can be determined.

A wife and mother of two young girls was last seen shopping alone at a Kroger on 130 W. Hively in Elkhart on the morning of Aug. 26, 2014.

Her Dodge Caravan had been damaged by extensive fire when it was found in Wakarusa days later.

But the case went cold, the Elkhart Police Department says they’ve interviewed people but has never publicly named any suspects in this case.

“It’s a rural area, a lot of homes have 10, 20 acres, several farms. So it’s remote, hilly, a lot of wooded area, it would be an ideal place to drop off a body,” said Larry Smith who lives along County Road 27. Thursday morning he and several other neighbors had many unanswered questions about who the remains belonged to.

But for those who have lived in Bristol for a long time had the same thought, the discovery of remains was eerily similar to a case 25 years ago.

“I immediately thought the same thing,” said Smith.

Kari Nunemaker was 16-years-old in 1991 when she was kidnapped from outside of the YMCA in Elkhart. Her body was found a few days later, strangled, near Bonneyville Mill Park in Bristol.

The park is just a few roads over from the location where Cortes-Reyes’ remains were found.

While Nunemaker’s killer is behind bars, neighbors worry the remote nature of their surroundings makes them a “dumping ground” for illicit activities.

“On these remote roads, they’re thinking it’s really remote,” said Michael Kemp.

Investigators have not released the exact location where Cortes-Reyes’ remains were located by the mushroom hunter, nor have they indicated a time frame for determining manner of death.

Source: WNDU