FULTON, Miss. (AP) - Remains found in a crawl space of a Mississippi home have been identified as those of a woman reported missing five years ago, and police are investigating the death as a homicide.
Fulton police tell news agencies that the death of Deborah Evans-Bell is now being investigated as a killing, though investigators don’t know the cause of death.
Evans-Bell had been missing since early 2016.
In a news release Tuesday, Fulton Police Chief Mitch Nabors and Itawamba County Coroner Shelia Summerford confirmed the remains were hers.
The release said DNA results show the match to be 99.4% certain, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
Evans-Bell was in her mid-50s when she was reported missing, although police at the time said the actual date of her disappearance was unclear.
A plumber called by the current occupants to fix a leak found the remains in the house where she had lived in Fulton. Investigators took the remains to the state crime lab.
Evans-Bell was reported missing on Feb. 8, 2016. She reportedly had left home for a doctor’s appointment but never arrived at any of the veterans medical facilities she usually frequented, authorities said..
Evans-Bell was well known around Fulton. She frequently walked the downtown court square, visiting with local business owners and officials. In the weeks that followed her disappearance, law enforcement worked with her friends and family to conduct multiple searches to no avail.
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