Partial human remains found over the summer have been identified as a Pennsylvania man who vanished a decade ago.
In July, individuals riding ATVs in Walker Township discovered the remains and alerted authorities, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Officers later recovered the remains and began an investigation.
“Following laboratory analysis, the remains were confirmed to belong to Jesse Lee Farber, who had been reported missing from Tamaqua since 2015,” police said, noting that his family has been informed.
Investigators also conducted further searches in the area, which led to the discovery of additional remains. The investigation remains active.
Rachel Carroll — Farber’s former girlfriend and the mother of his children — shared the discovery on the Facebook group “Find Jesse Farber,” as reported by the Times News.
“A few weeks ago, while searching for Jesse with a group of dedicated volunteers, we discovered several bones. Law enforcement was immediately notified, and the coroner later confirmed they were human,” Carroll wrote. “We have since learned that additional bones were found in the same area a couple of months earlier. Together, these partial remains have now been positively identified as Jesse.”
In an interview with NewsNation, Carroll recalled that the last time she saw Farber was on August 8, 2015.
“He said he had something he needed to handle on his own and that once it was taken care of, he’d come back and everything would be okay,” she said. “It made me worry even more because it felt like something was definitely wrong.”
Carroll last spoke to him three days later — the night he disappeared.
“He was really scared, and as the call went on, he got more terrified. He told me to bring guns because he said he was in a tree with 10 or 11 coyotes after him,” she told local station WOLF in a previous interview.
“I didn’t hear any animal noises — it was very quiet. It didn’t sound like he was running or even in the woods,” she added. “You couldn’t hear the wind, bugs, or leaves.”
According to a message shared on a GoFundMe page created to support search efforts, Farber described being on “two separate mountains” before the call ended. “He was never heard from again,” the post said.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) reported that Farber was last seen wearing a black hoodie and carrying a backpack containing boots and work clothes.
Over on the Facebook page dedicated to finding Farber, Carroll expressed both relief and grief. “While I’m grateful for closure, it’s heartbreaking to let go of that small hope that he might still return to us someday,” she wrote.
A celebration of life is being planned, though details have not yet been released.
