Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Remains moved to Texas; indentification still pending

The remains of a body that

some believe to be a suspect in

a murder case have been

moved to a North Texas facility

for DNA testing.

The remains were discovered

by a logger in Nevada

County just a few weeks ago

are believed to be that of Jon

Michael Fincher. Carlton said

the gruesome discovery was

made by a logging crew and

that it took hours of painstaking

excavation to gather all the

body parts. He said bones and

some clothing articles made up

the majority of what was

found.

The remains were then taken

to the Arkansas Crime Lab for

DNA analysis to determine the

identity of the person. Carlton

said this week that the results

were inconclusive due to the

state of the bones and that the

remains have now been sent on

to North Texas for a more

detailed analysis.

We wont know anything

until we get a positive ID,

Carlton said.

Fincher has been wanted for

first-degree murder by the

Hempstead County Sheriffs

Office for more than a year.

Though it was assumed that he

had fled to avoid prosecution, it

now seems likely that he was

killed and buried in a shallow

grave. A personal item found in

the grave with the body was

another clue that the remains

are that of Fincher, though

Carlton said its not yet possible

to say that for certain.

Several months ago, items

believed to belong to Fincher

were found in a pond in the

vicinity of the location where

the remains were eventually

discovered.

Finchers mother, Donna

Fincher, was found murdered at

her home in September, 2006.

Just months after her murder

and Finchers disappearance,

authorities considered that he

might also be dead, but continued

the search.