Body found by KC search group was man missing since 2022. A bone nearby was not human
A man found dead near 81st and Troost streets last month has been identified by police as a man missing since 2022.
Kansas City police said the man found by a search group in April was Eric D. Kelly, 35, of Kansas City. A Missouri State Highway Patrol missing person flyer said he was last seen Nov. 18, 2022, near 70th Street.
As they were looking for another missing man, 19-year-old T’Montez Hurt, on April 13, a member of the group found a bone they feared may have been human. Police arrived after the group made a 911 call about their discovery.
Officers responded about 10 minutes after the call and conducted a search of the immediate area. Soon after, they closed it off with crime scene tape. Homicide and missing persons detectives were called to the scene.
Police found a decomposing body inside a vehicle on the north side of a former apartment building. No members of the search group saw the body, but their discovery of the bone led police to finding Kelly.
The bone found by the group was later determined to be a pig knuckle, according to Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokesperson with KCPD. She said it appeared to have come from a butcher.
An investigation into Kelly’s death is ongoing. Police have classified it as a “death investigation.” As of May 9, no other information was available.
