“The remains were positively identified as a 99.98% match with Ms. Kelly Evans,” authorities said
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/kelly-evans-012126-31ee96087957422287da75a80191035f.jpg)
Kelly Evans.Credit : Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office
Human remains found in December have been positively identified as an Arkansas woman who went missing eight years ago, authorities said.
The Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office said in a Tuesday, Jan. 20, news release that the Kelly Evans’ family reported her missing from her home on White Oak Road in Faulkner County on Oct. 16, 2017. A missing persons flyer noted that she was 54 years old when she vanished.
Authorities’ search efforts at the time included cadaver dogs, drones, ATVs and Arkansas State Police aircraft, the sheriff’s office said. In the last eight years, multiple social media campaigns and billboards were employed to garner leads about Evans’ whereabouts while the case remained active.
Then on Dec. 31, a hunter tracking game near White Oak Road alerted police after discovering what appeared to be human remains in a very densely wooded area near a water runoff channel, the sheriff’s office added.
Afterward, the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office and Faulkner County Coroner’s Office conducted a search of the scene. They also found more suspected human remains along with clothing and other personal belongings, authorities said.
The remains and the items were later submitted to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for examination and identification.
“On January 16, 2026, the remains were positively identified as a 99.98% match with Ms. Kelly Evans,” the sheriff’s office confirmed.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In 2024, Nikki Driscoll, Evans’ daughter, told ABC affiliate KATV about the last time she spoke with her mother.
“It wasn’t unlike her for us to get into an argument or for her to get upset and for her to be left alone for a few days,” Driscoll said. “I never thought that I would be sitting here seven years later still looking for her.”
But Evans’ whereabouts remained a mystery until the hunter’s discovery in the woods last month.
In its Tuesday announcement, the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Office said the mom’s cause of death has yet to be determined.
“While this is not the outcome we had hoped for or worked toward,” authorities said, “we hope this identification provides the family with a measure of closure. This remains an ongoing and active investigation. As a result, no additional details will be publicly released at this time.”
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family of Kelly Evans at this time,” the sheriff’s office concluded.
