RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Human remains found earlier this year belong to man who has been missing for over a decade, according to a authorities.
According to the sheriff’s office, on March 6 they received a call about human remains being found in a wooded area off of New Hope Church Road. They collected the remains and sent them to the state medical examiner’s office to be identified.
On March 23, the state crime lab informed the sheriff’s office that the remains were Michael Dwayne Wilkerson, who had been reported missing on Sept. 24, 2011. He had last been seen in the area of Burney Road and New Hope Church Road in Asheboro on Sept.15, 2011.
A wrecked pickup truck with Wilkerson’s cell phone inside was found on Sept. 15. There was no one near the totaled truck and the last call on Wilkerson’s phone had been made around 2:30 a.m. Troopers responded to the scene around 5:15 a.m. after a passerby called about the wreck.
The cause of death has not been determined at this time.