Clinton County Coroner Phillip Moss says the decomposed body found in rural Centralia on October 10th has been identified as 57-year-old John Hunt of Centralia.
Moss believes Hunt had been dead about a month before his body was found in an area off the Jolliff Bridge Road northwest of Centralia. Hunt was most likely homeless at the time, having been evicted from his residence with no income. He is believed to have died from environmental factors.
Hunt had not been reported as missing.
Moss says there is nothing to indicate foul play.
Moss says the body was identified in two ways. There was enough flesh left on the body to allow for a fingerprint to be taken that matched the identity of Hunt. A forensic anthropologist involved in the case also examined the body at the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office. While searching for any type of injury, an old gunshot wound to the left shoulder was identified from a few years earlier that matched a wound Hunt had received.
The remains were found by a local resident checking a deer stand near a field. Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous announced a possible identity several days later based on a lead from the original news release on the discovery of the body.
