Fort Myers police: Human remains found in 2018 are those of a missing Mississippi man

Writer: Melissa Montoya
Published: Updated:
Alton Lee Wilfong (CREDIT: Missing People in America Facebook page)

Skeletal remains found in Fort Myers in 2018 have been identified as a 62-year-old Mississippi man who was helping to rebuild after Hurricane Irma.

Alton Lee Wilfong was identified after the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Services became involved, according to a news release by the Fort Myers Police Department.

NaMUS holds a database that brings people, information, forensic science and technology together to help resolve missing person cases.

FMPD and the District 211 Medical Examiner’s Office are members of NaMUS, the police department said.

Wilfong was identified on Jan. 22, almost two years after he went missing, through a DNA match. Wilfong has been reported missing by family members on Jan. 11, 2019 out of Gulfport, Mississippi.

The police department said there was no reason to believe the death was suspicious. His remains were found under a tree near 9011 Dani Drive. The area is behind a Verizon Wireless store and Lowe’s Home Improvement off of Six Mile Cypress Parkway and Colonial Boulevard.

According to a Facebook post by Missing People In America, Wilfong’s brother said he called his brother on Oct. 18, 2017, to see if he could travel to Texas to help his family rebuild after Hurricane Harvey destroyed their home.

Wilfong told his brother “he just got to a little town in Florida (no name) with a buddy (no name) to help rebuild after Hurricane Irma.”

The brother said Wilfong had been contracted to rebuild a small apartment complex for an investor that buys and refurbished old complexes, according to the Facebook post.

Wilfong told his brother he would be in Florida for about a month. He was unreachable after that.

It was common for Wilfong to go off the radar for extended periods of time, but never this long, according to the post.

“He always calls our mother for holidays and her birthday and he has not called her at all since October 2017,” the post said.

The case is now considered closed by the Fort Myers Police Department.

“This is a great example of how partnerships and technology are key to solving crimes and cases, ultimately giving closure to families,” Fort Myers police said in a statement. “This also shows it takes time and great effort on many parts.”

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