Family of a 47-year-old Arkansas man who went missing more than five years ago described him as “kind-hearted,” and said that Friday’s announcement identifying his remains means he is at peace.
Officials announced that the State Crime Lab matched the skeletal remains found last year in Jonesboro to James Doyle Murray, a local man whose stepmother reported him missing on July 7, 2013.
Murray’s stepmother, Luci, filed a missing persons report after James didn’t stop by her home to pick up an important piece of mail. The last time she heard from him was in December 2012.
She said an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that James had many friends and was skilled at building and fixing things. He grew up in Georgia and after serving in the U.S. Navy, he later worked as an auto mechanic and construction worker, Luci Murray said.
“He’s not just some remains they found,” she said. “He was a person, and he was sweet and kind-hearted.”
Jonesboro police discovered Murray’s remains in November 2018 on the south side of the city in a wooded area near a softball complex.
The cause of James Murray’s death or what happened to him remained unclear Friday.
Authorities did not release a cause of death, but Jonesboro police spokeswoman Sally Smith said police do not suspect foul play.
Still, news of her stepson's identification has been painful, Luci Murray said, and family members had been holding on to hope for his safe return. She recalled being constantly on the lookout for him around town while going about her daily life, remembering times she’d look back while driving when she thought she saw James.
“Over the years you hope and you pray,” she said. “We just know he’s at peace.”
Luci Murray said her stepson would often check in with her at least once a month and call her when he was having trouble.
“He had some issues that he could never overcome,” she said.
James Murray would have been 53 today.
Family members are planning his memorial service.