(Trends Wide) — The human remains found in late September near Montezuma, Iowa, have been positively identified as Xavior Harrelson, 11, according to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office.
Xavior was reported missing on May 27, less than a week after completing fourth grade. A body was found Sept. 30 “in a rural area approximately 3 miles northwest of Montezuma,” Sheriff Thomas Kriegel said in a statement Friday. Montezuma is 60 miles east of Des Moines.
On Friday, the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office notified the sheriff “that the human remains have been positively identified as those of Xavior Harrelson,” Kriegel added.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
The boy was reported to have disappeared briefly after Montezuma Elementary School ended the summer, principal Kurt Hanna told Trends Wide in June.
In the days before school ended, Hanna recalls, Xavior went from one classroom to another, saying goodbye to the students and wishing them a good summer.
“You never think it would be one of the last times you see someone. I pray it isn’t,” Hanna stated at the time.
Hanna said Xavior “always wanted to make sure you’re in a good mood and that you have a smile on your face.”
The FBI assisted local authorities in the search for Xavior, Amy Adams, a spokeswoman for the FBI field office in Omaha, had told Trends Wide. At one point, the search for the boy drew 500 people: 375 volunteers and 125 from law enforcement.
Trends Wide’s Aya Elamroussi and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.
(Trends Wide) — The human remains found in late September near Montezuma, Iowa, have been positively identified as Xavior Harrelson, 11, according to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office.
Xavior was reported missing on May 27, less than a week after completing fourth grade. A body was found Sept. 30 “in a rural area approximately 3 miles northwest of Montezuma,” Sheriff Thomas Kriegel said in a statement Friday. Montezuma is 60 miles east of Des Moines.
On Friday, the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office notified the sheriff “that the human remains have been positively identified as those of Xavior Harrelson,” Kriegel added.
The cause of death was not disclosed.
The boy was reported to have disappeared briefly after Montezuma Elementary School ended the summer, principal Kurt Hanna told Trends Wide in June.
In the days before school ended, Hanna recalls, Xavior went from one classroom to another, saying goodbye to the students and wishing them a good summer.
“You never think it would be one of the last times you see someone. I pray it isn’t,” Hanna stated at the time.
Hanna said Xavior “always wanted to make sure you’re in a good mood and that you have a smile on your face.”
The FBI assisted local authorities in the search for Xavior, Amy Adams, a spokeswoman for the FBI field office in Omaha, had told Trends Wide. At one point, the search for the boy drew 500 people: 375 volunteers and 125 from law enforcement.
Trends Wide’s Aya Elamroussi and Hannah Sarisohn contributed to this report.