Authorities are one step closer to identifying the human remains discovered Oct. 10 near a national park site in rural western Nebraska as missing Moorcroft man Chance Englebert.
Although a positive identification has yet to be made through dental records and DNA samples, Englebert’s family was able to identify several unnamed items found near the remains as belonging to him, according to a statement Thursday from the Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office.
The Douglas County Coroner’s Office in Omaha is assisting Gering Police in Nebraska with the forensic examination of the remains, including a forensic pathologist and scientists from the University of Nebraska, says the release.
“The examination is not yet scheduled but is expected to take place soon,” the statement reads. “We cannot positively identify the deceased until we receive confirmation through the forensic examination.”
The Scotts Bluff County Attorney’s Office further said that the local investigation is still “active and ongoing,” with multiple local and federal agencies involved.
This 3D Google map shows where the remains were found. (Courtesy Kelly Mumm) 
This 3D Google map shows where the remains were found. (Courtesy Kelly Mumm) 
This 3D Google map shows where the remains were found. (Courtesy Kelly Mumm)
Family Not Commenting Yet
Englebert was reported missing six years ago. The then 25-year-old Moorcroft, Wyoming, man was visiting his wife’s family in Gering, Nebraska, when he disappeared over the Fourth of July holiday weekend in 2019.
The Englebert family had been notified by the Gering Police detective the day after the remains were discovered that it might be Chance and were bracing themselves for a conclusive answer, a family representative told Cowboy State Daily.
The family said it has no comment at this time, according to former volunteer private investigator Ryan Couch who has been helping the family for the past two years and is currently speaking on their behalf.
“We are waiting on law enforcement to do their investigation and just want to give them the time and respect that they need to be thorough with everything,” Couch told Cowboy State Daily by phone.
Walked off, never to be seen again
Englebert was visiting his in-laws with his wife, Baylee, and infant son, for the Independence Day weekend in 2019 when he disappeared.
He’d spent the day golfing with his in-laws when an argument ensued between them, prompting him to call Baylee to pick him up. The couple also argued when they returned to his in-law’s home in Gering at which point Englebert walked off never to be seen again.
Remote area
Long-time Gering resident Kelly Mumm was out walking his dogs Saturday along the canal road alongside the irrigation ditch on the northside of the monument when he saw a large police presence.
Typically, this area is not well traveled and he estimated he sees about one or two other walkers every month. If there’s a vehicle on the road typically blocked by a locked gate, Mumm said it’s invariably National Park Service staff or someone working for the irrigation company.
He stopped and was told by an officer on scene that they were recovering human remains that had been there for several years.
Photos taken by Mumm from the road where he stopped show workers in hard hats with shovels sitting or leaning a steep, sandstone ridge about a quarter mile from where Mumm was standing.
Admittedly, it had Mumm shaking his head as to how Englebert’s body could have gotten there.
On the night he disappeared, Englebert told his best friend, Matt Miller, that he planned to walk the 35 miles to Torrington, following the North Platte River.
Though Englebert could have walked to the location from Terrytown where he was last seen on surveillance video walking alone through a residential, Mumm said it would have been a much harder route to take given the steep terrain and the fact that there are no trails up to the point where his body was discovered.
Monument park is a popular hiking spot, Mumm said, but all the trailheads are on the south side, and he’s never seen any hikers on the north side when he’s been out walking.
“To me, the most logical way a body would get there is if they fell or jumped from the top,” Mumm said, “but to try to start at midnight and walk up the site monument and then get all the way out there, I mean, you'd have to be pretty determined.”
Had Englebert left the canal road where Mumm stood, he would have had to swim about 15 feet across the canal and then tromp through thick brush and climb the steep terrain.
It would have required bushwhacking through tall grass and thick brush through elevated, rough terrain as opposed to sticking to paved roads that followed the North Platte River.
“That'd be the longest way I could imagine you could walk to Torrington,” Mumm said, “especially at night in the rain.”
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
