BOONE COUNTY -Â The Boone/Callaway County Medical Examiner s Office confirmed Tuesday that the human remains found at Rock Bridge State Park belong to Mengqi Ji. She had been missing since Oct. 10, 2019.Â
Columbia Police held a press conference Tuesday at 2 p.m. to announce the identification. CPD said they received the results Friday, but held off until the family was notified Tuesday morning.Â
The positive identification came from the forensic odontologist, Chief Geoff Jones said. Ji s dental records were compared with the remains.Â
The remains are still being examined so authorities do not know how exactly Ji died. The anthropologist will come in next and do more of a thorough examination, but Chief Jones says it s a process, so it will take time. He also said it has potential to give more leads and more insight.
COLUMBIA - The Columbia Police Department expects an identification of the human remains found at Rock Bridge State Park to come early this week.
CPD believes those remains belong to missing Columbia woman Mengqi Ji, but it s up to the Boone/Callaway County Medical Examiner s Office to confirm the identity using forensics.
The medical examiner s office contracted out a forensic odontologist to work with the local forensic anthropologist to identify the body.
A hiker found the remains and contacted authorities on Thursday, March 25. Officials said the remains were found nearly a mile in on the Gans Trail and about 30 feet from a road.