‘Multiple’ Remains Found in Oklahoma River After 4 Adult Friends Went Missing

Scott Stump and Tim Stelloh and NBC News and Samantha Kubota
·2 min read
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Police in a small Oklahoma town say they have "more questions than answers" after finding what appear to be "multiple" human remains amid the search for four friends between the ages of 29 and 32 who they say left one of their homes on bikes together and have not been seen or reachable since.

The Okmulgee Police Department said on Facebook that Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, and Mike Sparks, 32, were reported missing earlier this week by Mark Chastain's wife, and only hours later, Alex Stevens, 29, was reported missing by his mother.

Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice told reporters on Friday evening that on Oct. 14 shortly before 2 p.m., a passerby noticed "suspicious" items in a shallow river southwest of town and notified authorities.

Prentice said there appeared to be “body parts protruding from the water," adding that he couldn't "tell you what’s under the water."

“This process will take some time, and currently, we have more questions than answers,” he said.

Prentice said it wasn’t clear how many bodies were there or if foul play was involved.

The close friends are believed to have left Billy Chastain's home around 8 p.m. on Oct. 9 on bicycles, police said. Attempts to reach two of the men on their cellphones have gone straight to voicemail, police said.

Mark Chastain's phone was tracked to an area south of Okmulgee, a town of 11,300 about 30 miles south of Tulsa, but officers didn't find any signs of the men, police said.

In an update posted on Facebook on Thursday, police said a person reportedly saw the four men walking down the street around 2 a.m. on Oct. 11, but their account could not be confirmed with independent witnesses or video.

Mark Chastain's wife, Jessica Chastain, told local NBC affiliate KJRH that the men usually stick close to home.

“They don’t go far — never,” Chastain said.

Police said in their announcement on Oct. 11 about the men's disappearance that there is no evidence to indicate violence or foul play at this point. Chastain believes otherwise.

“If they’re alive, someone’s holding them hostage or something,” she told KJRH. “But I don’t see four grown men being held hostage by one person.”

Chastain was asked if she thinks the men are alive.

"At this point, no," she said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com