An unlikely discovery was made by workers doing a routine inspection of a storm drain in Sacramento. Body parts were discovered, piece-by-piece, on Dec. 8 by employees clearing the drain near Gordon Drive in the California city.
An unlikely discovery was made by workers doing a routine inspection of a storm drain in Sacramento. Body parts were discovered, piece-by-piece, on Dec. 8 by employees clearing the drain near Gordon Drive in the California city. While unclogging their vacuum machine, workers pulled out what they at first suspected was a stick–– but turned out to be a shoe.
As the crew continued to pull out the pieces of muck, they found a human leg bone and foot.
The crew called the Sheriff's Office, and while awaiting detectives to arrive at the scene, more bones were discovered –– almost making a complete human skeleton, the statement said. A "debit-type" card was also recovered, but there was no name printed on it.
Detectives called the debit card company and learned that the card belonged to a man who was reported missing over two years ago, in November 2018.
The man was later identified as Jack Larson, 60, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The department wrote in a statement that the team often works closely with deputies because their work can sometimes lead them to interactions with homeless camps.
“We ask for the deputies’ assistance to make sure nobody is harmed by our machines,” said Water Resources Director, Michael Peterson. “So when our crews came across human remains, while shaken up by their discovery, they kept their cool and knew to call the Sheriff’s Office for assistance.”
The family of Larson read news reports of the shocking discovery and reached out to the Sacramento County Coroner's office, speculating it could belong to him. Ultimately, both the brother and daughter of the missing man provided DNA samples and, with rapid technology, the Coroner's office found they were a match.
“While my team often works with the Sheriff’s Office, we don’t usually work with Water Resources, so this was a unique experience for us,” said Kim Gin, Sacramento County Coroner. “This was a great example of County employees, that don’t usually work together, coming together to identify this local man and bring some closure to his family.”
There are 73 active "John Does" and "Jane Does" cases that date back to 1975 at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office, according to online records.
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