Remains identified as man reported missing in Phoenix in 2017

PHOENIX – Human remains discovered in northern Arizona in 2019 have been identified as those of a man who went missing in Phoenix two years earlier, authorities announced Wednesday.

A Utah forensic lab helped Arizona investigators identify the skeletal remains as those of Mark Austin Dunne, the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said.

A missing report for Dunne was filed with the Phoenix Police Department in March 2017 after he failed to contact his family for an extended period of time.

Meanwhile, a hiker found unidentifiable remains in a wooded area at the base of Mount Elden, north of Flagstaff, on November 2, 2019.

How were the human remains of the missing Phoenix Man identified?

In August 2023, CCSO hired Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Forensics, which specializes in forensic genetic genealogy techniques, to see if the lab could identify the remains.

Intermountain Forensics developed a DNA profile from the remains and compared it to existing profiles. In February this year, Dunne was identified as a potential partner.

A DNA sample from the remains was then compared to the Dunne family's DNA. Tests conducted at the University of North Texas and additional information collected by detectives confirmed the identity.

Evidence collected at the scene suggests Dunne was camping when he died, but investigators are unsure when he arrived in the Flagstaff area.

The cause of death could not be determined.

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