DNA Identifies Man Found in Mississippi River 38 Years Ago

CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. — A man whose body was recovered from the Mississippi River in Crittenden County in 1988 has been identified through DNA testing more than 38 years later, according to Sheriff Michael Allen.

The man was Kevin Eugene Sander of Scott City, Missouri. He was reported missing and presumed dead after falling overboard from a barge near Dyersburg, Tennessee, in February 1988, Allen said.

Sander had turned 34 just two days before he fell into the river. He left behind a wife and two sons, ages 3 and 6, according to the sheriff.

On April 9, 1988, the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department and Crittenden County Search and Rescue recovered a body about 300 feet from the Arkansas side of the Mississippi River.

A fisherman from Walls, Mississippi, found the body floating across the river from the Walls Landing boat dock. He contacted the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department, which notified authorities in Crittenden County.

The body was sent to the Arkansas medical examiner’s office in Little Rock. The cause of death was determined to be drowning, with no evidence of trauma, according to Allen.

The man’s identity remained unknown until a possible DNA match recently led investigators to relatives in Missouri.

On July 29, Capt. Chelsey Stafford of the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department traveled to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and obtained voluntary DNA samples from two of Sander’s brothers. The samples were submitted to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory.

Testing confirmed the identification as Sander, Allen said.

Sander’s cremated remains will be released to his family, according to the sheriff.

Allen credited Stafford and Samantha Smith, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory’s cold case coordinator, with helping resolve the case.