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Investigators with the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office have announced a partial resolution to a cold case homicide dating back to the early 1970s.
However, although the victim’s remains …
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Investigators with the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office have announced a partial resolution to a cold case homicide dating back to the early 1970s.
However, although the victim’s remains were finally able to be positively identified and released to family members, the murder itself remains unsolved.
According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, 18-year-old Timothy Eddy Morgan disappeared on or about Nov. 29, 1974. When Morgan failed to return to his uncle’s residence in Lyman, he was reported as a missing person.
His car was found abandoned a few days later in the area of Ekin Station, outside of Lyman, but a search revealed no sign of Morgan himself.
Nearly five years later, in April 1979, human remains were discovered about 1 1/2 miles from where the vehicle had been found, located just outside the initial foot search area. With the assistance of the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, the remains were transported to Cheyenne, where an autopsy was conducted.
The remains were found to be that of a young adult male who’d been killed by a gunshot. His build and clothing were consistent with Morgan’s but it wasn’t possible at that time to make a confirmed positive identification.
In early 2017, however, investigators with the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Wyoming State Crime Lab regarding the cold case and were referred to the University of North Texas. Personnel there assisted with securing a DNA sample from the skeletal remains that could be compared to any possible family members to aid in positive identification.
The work of several sheriff’s office employees led to the location of Morgan’s brother, who resided in Utah, and a half-sister who resided in California. The two siblings provided DNA samples to compare to the skeletal remains, resulting in a match to Morgan.
Last week, Uinta County Coroner Greg Crandall, Sheriff Doug Matthews, Sgt. Brooke Hale and Victim’s Advocate Leisa Reiter met with Morgan’s brother and assisted in transferring the young man’s body to his final resting place.
