Rogers body positively identified

The Jackson County Medical Examiner's office has positively identified the body found in south Liberty on Friday as that of missing runner Chad Rogers.

The Liberty Police Department's investigation has revealed no signs of foul play, but the investigation will not conclude until the cause of death has been determined. The final determination of the cause of death will not be made until the autopsy is complete.

Rogers, 30, his wife, Sarah, and their son, Matthew, 1, recently moved from Jefferson City to Liberty, to be closer to his family.

He had been the youth minister at Jefferson City's First United Methodist Church.

Rogers was reported missing on the evening of July 22, when he left his family's home in Liberty for a jog and failed to return.

The body was found Friday in a portable toilet at a construction site at Liberty's South Valley Junior High School.

Kansas City area reporters said that site was closer to the family's home than the area where he was believed to have been running, and where dogs had followed his scent.

Rogers family said a trust fund has been set up at US Bank branches under the name "Chad Rogers' Memorial Fund." A "Chad is Home" celebration is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Shoal Creek Community Church in Pleasant Valley.

The family is also planning two benefits in memory of Rogers. A benefit concert and a run in his honor are both in the works, but dates have not been announced.

See also:

Chad Rogers obituary