Skeletal remains discovered by a hiker and recovered by Moraga police and county evidence technicians in a remote region on the Moraga/Lafayette border have been identified as those of a Lafayette man reported by his family as missing in 1998.
Moraga Police Chief Jon King said the skeletal remains, found in the open space east of Rheem Boulevard and west of S. Lucille Lane on March 16 of this year, were of Richard Allen Saimons of Lafayette. As this site has stated previously, Saimons was living not far from where his remains were ultimately found when he left the residence and was reported missing by his family on August 2, 1998.
An autopsy was conducted and the cause of death was listed as undetermined by the Contra Costa County Coroner’s office, although the forensic pathologist did not locate any signs of foul play on Saimons’ remains.
King said a DNA sample was recovered from the remains and analyzed by the California Department of Justice DNA Laboratory in Richmond and Saimons was eventually identified in this way. He was 37-years-old when he was reported missing.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Moraga Police Lt. Brian South at 925-888-7052 or the Lafayette Police at (925) 284-5010.
Wow. That answers a lot of questions for that family. That’s a long time not to know.
This does answer questions for his family, but I’ve heard there’s no such thing as closure. Prayers…
Amazing they never found him. Did they search for him back then?
How sad.
Does this happen a lot?
@Brinn – We wouldn’t say it happens a lot, Brinn, but it does happen often enough that we are not surprised by discoveries such as this one.
Condolences to the family but there are worse ways to go. The sad part of it here is that he was so close and they just couldn’t find him. RIP
Answers many questions. Asks a few more. Glad for the family that they were finally able to bring him home.