Remains Identified as Teen Who Went Missing 20 Years Ago

(RepublicanView.org) – Human remains discovered at a mobile home park in Florida have been identified as those of a 16-year-old girl who went missing in 2004. Volusia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that testing compared the body’s DNA to Autumn McClure’s family, and the result was positive.

The Sheriff’s office also noted that it utilized in-house ANDE Rapid DNA technology, which significantly reduces the time it takes to confirm an identity.

Autumn McClure was reported missing by her grandmother in May 2004. The grandmother told police that she received letters, ostensibly from her granddaughter, telling her she was okay and would return after her 18th birthday. Investigators discovered that the teenager had been staying with a man and a woman in the Shady Oaks mobile home park and that the trio were involved romantically.

The man was identified as 31-year-old Brian Donley, who maintained he had no idea what happened to McClure. Over subsequent years, police received anonymous tips blaming Donley and his girlfriend for the teenager’s death. Police offered immunity to Donley’s unnamed partner in exchange for information after Mr. Donley died during a surgical procedure. She subsequently indicated that she saw Donley murder the girl, and he threatened to kill her if she told the police.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood told reporters that the woman explained to officers that she came home one afternoon to find Donley choking the girl in the bathroom, but when she tried to intervene, she discovered the teenager was already dead. Chitwood further reported that the woman is not suspected of involvement in the killing.

Police discovered the body under the mobile home by using ground-penetrating radar equipment, which showed areas of density that differed from the surrounding soil. They proceeded to excavate the area and found “99.9%” of Ms. McClure’s remains. These were taken to the regional medical examiner, who confirmed the identity. The mobile home park is located in Ormond Beach, about an hour from Orlando.