Skull found by hunter in Alabama woods belonged to man missing since 2019, cops say
The discovery of human remains in Alabama have now been identified as a man who went missing nearly five years ago, deputies said.
A hunter discovered a skull off a county road in Lauderdale County on Dec. 13, WAFF reported.
Investigators near the wooded area began a multi-day process of recovering more remains, Deputy Matt Horton told WHNT.
By the end of the search, they had unearthed around 60-70% of the body, Sgt. Matthew Burbank with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office said in a news conference Dec. 29.
Investigators sent the body to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to determine the person’s identity and cause of death. Two weeks later, forensics used cranial scans and dental records to identify the person as 39-year-old Bradley Eugene Lard, Sheriff Joe Hamilton said at the news conference.
Lard disappeared Feb. 28, 2019, Hamilton said. Investigators said he was at an acquaintance’s home until he walked off and was last seen at a gas station in Cloverdale.
Governor Kay Ivey has been offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case, Burbank said. But after years of investigation, authorities hadn’t found the missing man.
Lard’s family began a Facebook page dedicated to finding him. They posted periodically throughout the nearly five years since Lard disappeared, asking for prayers and sharing updates.
“While we are grateful that today’s information brought some needed closure to the Lard family, this case remains open as we await final reports from DFS and as we look into new evidence that came with the discovery of the remains,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton wouldn’t disclose what that evidence was and said investigators couldn’t yet determine whether foul play was involved.
Burbank added that the clothes found with the remains matched the description of what Lard was wearing the last time he was seen.
At the news conference, Lard’s mother, Lisa Wallace, thanked investigators for their work in the case, saying Burbank was like a son to her now.
“I am so grateful to be bringing my baby home,” she said.
McClatchy News could not immediately reach the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office for an update on the case.
Lauderdale County is in northwest Alabama along the Mississippi and Tennessee borders.
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