CORYDON, Ind. — Nearly 30 years after a Louisville man went missing, Harrison County officials used DNA technology to identify his body.
The Harrison County Sheriff's Department said Deputy Chris Burks, the coroner's office, prosecutor's office and Cedar Hill Cemetery worked to exhume the skeletal remains of an unidentified body recovered in the Ohio River on May 25, 1992.
Burks worked with an analyst at Indiana State Police's regional crime lab to obtain a DNA profile for the remains, identifying Louisville native Kenneth Wayne Watters through a profile submitted by his mother.
Watters was reported missing on November 29, 1991, per LMPD data. He was 30 at the time of his disappearance. His family later submitted DNA comparisons to the UNT Center for Human Identification.
Burks and the Harrison County coroner met with Watter's family on Aug. 28 to tell them their findings. Police are investigating the cause and manner of Watters' death, saying a forensic anthropologist will be contacted to complete a full examination.
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