BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Kentucky State Police detectives returned Thursday to the wooded hills off Coldwater Road near Inez, where a hunter discovered human skeletal remains Oct. 20.

Martin County Coroner Chris Todd and Penny Steffey of the Kentucky Search Dog Association joined detectives in combing the area for any remains that may have been missed earlier in the week.

Police recovered the ID and food stamp card of 59-year-old Jody Pauley of Inez from a wallet found in an article of clothing at the scene Oct. 20. Pauley had been missing since March 4, when he was last seen on East Main Street walking toward Coldwater.

Law enforcement was alerted around 8:30 p.m. Oct. 20 after the local hunter stumbled on the remains. Martin County Sheriff John Kirk, deputies, Coroner Chris Todd, local first responders and emergency personnel converged on Coldwater Road. Kentucky State Police Post 9 also received the call, and troopers arrived around 9:30 p.m.

Authorities searched overnight.

“We have confirmed body parts,” Coroner Todd said last week, noting that the remains included teeth that could help identify the deceased. He transported the remains Thursday to the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

Early in the initial search, Sheriff Kirk voiced his suspicion that the deceased individual was Pauley, saying he and his wife had prayed for weeks that the Lord would lead officials to Pauley’s whereabouts and give his family closure.

Kirk’s office began searching for Pauley in April after family members filed a missing persons report. Family members said leads were already cold by the time they knew Pauley was missing. They had believed he was in a rehabilitation center.

Last month, acting on a tip, the sheriff directed a deep-water search of the Curtis Crum Reservoir.

Pauley’s family helped to identify shoes and other clothing recovered at the scene Oct. 20.