Missing Towaoc man's remains found

Missing Towaoc man's remains found

Oct. 5, 2000

BY MATT GLECKMAN
Journal Staff Writer

Shoppers who had been walking their dog behind the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Sunday discovered the skeletal remains of a Towaoc man who had been missing for four months.

Detective Kalvin Boggs of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office said that the couple, who had been shopping at Wal-Mart, took their dog for a walk behind the store and discovered the skeleton approximately 200 yards to the southwest.

On Tuesday the body was identified by a pathologist as 70-year-old McKean Peabody, a resident of Towaoc and member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

According to the sheriff’s office, the man was identified by using known characteristics within the skeletal structure, such as broken-bone scars.

"Peabody had been missing from the Cortez area since around the first of June," Boggs said.

"The family had been working real close with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Towaoc law enforcement. They had been heavily involved with the search."

"It has been a concern all summer that we would find his body," said Towaoc Police Chief Dusty Whiting. "The family came to us from time to time with different leads."

Whiting declined to say at this time whether or not foul play was involved. "The case is still under investigation," he said. The chief added that because the skeleton was discovered within Montezuma County, the sheriff’s office would take over as the lead investigator. "We will help assist them in their investigation," he said.

Boggs said the cause of death is still undetermined. "We investigate every death as a homicide until it is proven otherwise. So at this point we are still investigating and trying to determine the cause of death," Boggs said.

Boggs added that, at present, the sheriff’s office is also uncertain of the time of death.