Human remains found in search for missing Camden County man

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) - Human remains and an artificial hip were found Sunday after detectives and cadaver dogs returned to the southern Camden County pond where missing person Donnie Erwin’s Hyundai Elantra was recovered.

The Camden County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that detectives continued searching the pond Saturday morning after cadaver dogs alerted them to human remains in the area. The dogs concentrated on an area near the center of the pond.

A Hyundai Elantra belonging to Erwin, who went missing in 2013, was found in the same pond on Saturday, Dec. 16, after a freelance videographer drone pilot alerted authorities of his belief that he’d located a vehicle submerged in a small pond.

When detectives returned Sunday morning at 9 a.m., divers from the Mid County Fire Protection District searched the area with cadaver dogs and recovered human remains from the pond. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office said investigators also recovered an artificial hip consistent with one Erwin had.

Previously reported by KY3, Donnie Erwin, 59, is an army veteran. Due to some health complications, he only had one leg.

On Dec. 29, 2013, Donnie asked his wife for a gift card to go buy some cigarettes. He left in his 2002 Silver Hyundai Elantra and never returned.

Authorities said a forensic pathologist still needs to examine the remains to confirm they are those of Erwin but investigators are confident the hip and remains belong to him.