GATESVILLE, Texas — The remains of a Gatesville man missing since 2015 have been positively identified, the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
The skeletal remains, discovered on a rural property on Riverbend Lane in Gatesville in April 2022, have been identified as belonging to Cole Younger Middleton, who was 21 years old when he was reported missing by his mother, Julia Middleton, on Sept. 29, 2015, police say.
Sheriff’s deputies were called to the property on the evening of April 23, 2022, after a report of possible human remains. Officers confirmed the discovery and contacted investigators from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, as well as the Texas Rangers. The investigation revealed additional remains, a folding pocketknife and a piece of a T-shirt at the scene.
Middleton and another man, William Casey, who had been missing since 1988, were listed in the Gatesville-area missing persons database. Following the discovery, investigators contacted Middleton’s family for DNA comparison.
Julia Middleton provided a saliva sample, which was sent to The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification in Fort Worth for analysis. Genetic testing confirmed the remains were those of Cole Middleton, as the DNA matched that of his mother, according to police.
Middleton’s mother had last spoken with him on July 19, 2015, and reported him missing after he had left a local hotel, abandoning a duffle bag of clothes but not returning. Deputies had reported contact with Middleton in early August 2015, but he was never found, police said.
"Although this was not the resolution any of us wanted for this case, we are happy we could positively confirm the identification of Cole Middleton and bring some measure of closure to his friends and family," said Coryell County Sheriff Scott Williams. "This has been a long, arduous process, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of everyone involved."
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