HARRISONVILLE, Mo. -- The Cass County Sheriff's department says human remains were found Friday in a wooded area in Harrisonville.
Friday afternoon, deputies were contacted by mushroom hunters who found possible human remains in the area of S. Mopac Rd between E. 235th and E. 239th.
Late Friday night, the Jackson County Medical Examiners Office confirmed the remains were human. No information on sex, race, age, or when the victim died have been determined.
Cass County Sheriff Jeff Weber says the remains had been there long enough that they could not be identified as male or female.
Deputies returned Saturday morning to search for anything that could help identify the victim.
“Anything. Articles of clothing, anything that would be evidence of a crime or the ability to to identify the remains,” said Sheriff Weber.
Weber says they are relying on the Medical Examiners report to proved information on age, gender, race and other identifiers.
The family of Desirae Ferris, who has been missing for nearly a year, arrived at the scene after learning about the remains.
“Oh it makes you sick. It makes you sick to your stomach, it makes you want to throw up. It makes your heart race you’re thinking that hopefully it’s her, could it be her… is it not her, if it’s not her than its somebody else’s kid,” said Jennifer Ferris, Ferris’s step mom.
The family says several tips have led them to conduct ground searches for Ferris in the Harrisonville area.
“It definitely sparked a real moment that it could possibly have been or be her… is her,” said Spike, a family friend.
That same hope something that is felt by many families. Between Cass, Platte, Jackson and Clay counties, there are more than 150 active missing persons cases.
Sheriff Weber says whenever human remains are found they receive dozens of phone calls from families of the missing who are looking for answers and closure.
Weber says it could be a while before the remains are identified.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Cass County Sheriff's Office at (816) 380-5200.
