The man whose remains were found last October in a field outside Cheyenne has been identified, the Laramie County Coroner’s Office says.
Roy Arthur Moates, 59, of Laramie County, has been identified as the person whose remains prompted a two-day, 50-person gridwork-pattern search in a private field last October.
He was also a longtime Big Piney resident, Wyoming court files say.
Because of the condition of the remains, Laramie County Coroner Rebecca Reid has deemed the cause and manner of death “undetermined.”
However, her office added in a Tuesday statement that no trauma or foul play are suspected.
The Find
Moates had been missing for five months when a construction crew found a body part while mowing a field off of Terry Ranch Road on Oct. 14.
The crew was installing infrastructure in the area, which is private land, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office told Cowboy State Daily at the time.
The remains were in a “skeletal” phase and scattered, Laramie County Coroner Rebecca Reid said at the time.
A two-day, 50-person grid-pattern search to find all the remains followed, after which Reid collected the remains for investigation.
With help from forensic anthropologist Dr. Diane France and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) DNA team, Reid’s office was able to identify the remains as Moates on April 9, says the statement.
The cause and manner of Moates’ death are undetermined, “due to the condition of the remains,” the statement says.
“The Laramie County Coroner’s Office along with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is grateful for the public’s assistance in this long-standing investigation and sends their deepest condolences to Roy’s family and friends during this difficult time,” the statement says.
DCI’s public missing person file for Moates says he would have turned 60 this year and was missing from Laramie County. Wyoming court files say he was a longtime Big Piney resident. He had hazel eyes, blond hair, stood 5 feet, 9 nine inches tall and weighed 200 pounds.
Prior to his disappearance and death, he was last seen May 18, 2024.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
