FORT SMITH - A human skull found on a small island on the Arkansas River five years ago has been identified as that of a man who vanished while fishing on the river with his wife, according to Fort Smith police.
DNA analysis showed the skull was that of Salvador Serrano Luevano, 23, who was reported as missing after the body of his wife, Blanca Cortes-Romero, 18, was found floating in the river at Fort Smith Park.
Both deaths have been ruled accidental drownings, a news release from Fort Smith Police Department spokesman Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said.
The mystery began Aug.14, 2007, when the Police Department received a report of a woman’s body floating in the Arkansas River at the park, near the Fort Smith-Van Buren bridge.
Investigators found an abandoned vehicle in the parking lot that had a purse containing an ID card for Cortes-Romero, according to the release. Her family told police she and her husband of a few months, Luevano, frequently went to the park to fish. The family also told police neither could swim.
The woman’s body later was identified as Cortes-Romero through dental records but Luevano was not found and was classified as missing, the release said.
On March 30, 2008, the release stated, two boys who lived at 2201 Wyndermere Way, downstream from the park, were on the river in a flat-bottomed boat when they found a human skull on a small island.
Years later, according to the release, Crawford County sheriff’s Investigator Clifford Cope was able to locate Luevano’s family in Mexico and obtain DNA samples to compare with the skull.
The skull and DNA samples were sent to the University of North Texas, which specializes in DNA research. The release stated that on Sept. 5, the state Crime Laboratory, through the assistance of North Texas University, identified the skull as Luevano’s.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 09/14/2013