PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — David "DJ" Whitt disappeared in September of last year. A body was found three months later, but it wasn't until this week that the Pulaski County Coroner was able to identify the remains.
The family’s attorney, Jeremy Bartley, says, "So obviously the family, they've been through hell and at this point there are a lot more question marks for them than there are answers.”
Bartley explains that 20-year-old Whitt went missing last September. "Our understanding is that there was a report that Mr. Whitt had an interaction with law enforcement earlier in the night that he was last seen. Of course, it was a little bit over two months before his body was ultimately found in an area that was not too far from where the interaction occurred."
In December, the Pulaski County Coroner, Clyde Strunk, reported that a farmer found a body around Bethlehem Ridge Road. It was believed to be Whitt, but it wasn't until this week that the coroner was able to identify him.
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Strunk says, "The mother began to be concerned. And our local sheriff's department identified this individual because there was an ID card on a part of a shirt."
When the initial investigation began in December, Strunk says the remains were sent to Frankfort for an autopsy where the cause and manner of death couldn't be identified. Remains were then sent to the University of Tennessee and then the Kentucky State Police lab.
Strunk says, "So all of these months since December we've been waiting on the DNA from the Kentucky State Police lab to 100% ID this individual."
The family's attorney says they are still trying to piece together what happened to Whitt.
"In terms of the word closure that's a fleeting word. They are now reconciled to the fact that Mr. Whitt has passed but they seek answers as to what exactly happened with him and at this point, we just don't know,” says Bartley.
