WARRENTON, Mo. (AP) - Authorities in eastern Missouri's Warren County west of St. Louis have exhumed the remains of a headless, handless man in hopes of identifying him 28 years after his body was found.
The remains were exhumed Monday from the Warrenton City Cemetery by investigators intent on gathering genetic material that could end the mystery of who the man was.
DNA testing was not available to law enforcement at the time the man was killed.
Authorities recently told St. Louis radio station KMOX the remains found in 1987 by a squirrel hunter had a scar on the right side that was likely caused by a bullet wound that never was professionally treated. The unidentified man, who police believe was between 35 and 45, had seven broken ribs, as well as alcohol and cocaine in his system.
The man, who was wearing a dark blue 1987 Rose Bowl T-shirt, white Nike high tops and Oscar de la Renta jeans, had 87 cents in his pocket and a Kansas City International Airport token.
The victim's remains will be sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification.
It appeared the victim had been killed elsewhere before his body was placed along a rural highway where it was found four or five days later.
People from almost a dozen agencies, including the Missouri Highway Patrol, the FBI and the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's Office, assisted during the exhumation.
The case is one of two unsolved murders in Warren County history.