Cedar City police announced Monday that a body discovered in a drainage tunnel more than a week ago was a local man who went missing in 2018.
Two youths spotted the human remains on Dec. 28 in the tunnel that runs underneath Interstate 15.
The skeletal remains were sent to the medical examiner’s office, Cedar City police said, and dental records confirmed the deceased person was 63-year-old Johnny Dale Rollins. A wallet found on the body confirmed the identification.
Police say Rollins was reporting missing after he left his home for a walk in March 2018. When he was reported missing, family members told police that Rollins has health issues related to a previous stroke, as well as early stages of Alzheimer’s.
"Mr. Rollins was known to walk great distances around the Cedar City area," police said in a news release. "Multiple searches for Mr. Rollins were conducted at the time he went missing without success."
Police say it’s difficult to determine how Rollins died, but there was nothing found to indicate foul play.
