Skull on fireplace mantel identified as man missing since 2012, Tennessee officials say
A skull found on a Tennessee mantel was discovered to belong to a man who went missing in 2012, officials say.
Someone put sunglasses on the remains, which had been kept above a fireplace, District Attorney General Russell Johnson said Monday in a Facebook post.
Officials say the skull was discovered in 2019 in the Gobey area of Morgan County, roughly 50 miles northwest of Knoxville after someone tipped them off to its location. No other remains were found, according to the Facebook post.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office took the skull to compare it with DNA samples from relatives of Junior Willie McCann, officials say. McCann was last seen in Morgan County in 2012.
Tests from the Knox County Regional Forensics Center and University of Tennessee’s anthropology department determined the skull was McCann’s, according to the district attorney.
“Speculation and rumor has been that Junior Willie McCann was possibly killed by a family member who is now deceased as well,” Johnson wrote in his Facebook post.
Sheriff Wayne Potter has asked anyone with information to call 423-346-6262.
