Human remains discovered in Texas this August have been confirmed as belonging to 34-year-old Courtney Martin, who went missing in May 2023, authorities said.
The Smith County Sheriff’s Office had previously indicated that bones recovered from a pond, with the help of a Texas Department of Public Safety dive team, were likely Martin’s. She was last heard from on May 16, 2023, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
The remains were sent to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas for identification. On the morning of Friday, Aug. 29, Smith County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Larry Christian confirmed that the remains were indeed Martin’s.
“Unfortunately, this is a tragic and sad end to the disappearance of Courtney Martin,” Christian said in a press release. “However, this investigation will continue as foul play is expected.”
Martin disappeared after calling her mother from an intersection to request a ride, the sheriff’s office said, according to CBS affiliate KYTX.
“The phone call to her mother was her last, and no one has seen or heard from her since,” the sheriff’s office said two years after her disappearance, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which also reported that authorities suspected foul play.
Her last known location was less than two miles from her mother’s home, but Courtney was nowhere to be found when her mom arrived shortly after the call, KYTX reported.
“We searched for her for months, exhausting all investigative avenues,” Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said in August in a video shared by ABC affiliate KLTV.
“Fast forward to July 3 of this year, we received information that some young men had found a backpack belonging to her near a pond,” he said, noting that her belongings were located in New Harmony, Texas.
Sheriff Smith added that in early July, the department requested assistance from a state DPS dive team to search the pond. However, resources were redirected to Kerr County to respond to severe flooding along the Guadalupe River.
When the dive team began searching on Tuesday, Aug. 26, human skeletal remains were discovered “almost immediately,” Sheriff Smith said. “That is what we believe to be the remains of Courtney Martin.”
“This will be an all-hands-on-deck criminal investigation,” he continued.
“There will be no loose ends until this investigation reaches a final conclusion regarding what happened to Courtney,” he added.
