Medical examiners have identified the body found on Lookout Mountain last month as that of Justine “Marie” Creech, the Dade County woman who went missing last summer.
A hiker discovered the body on Jan. 28 in an area of the woods that people usually avoid. She alerted the Dade County Sheriff’s Office, and investigators immediately believed they had found Creech’s remains.
Justine CreechThe hiker discovered the body next to a crashed van at the bottom of a bluff. The van’s license plate was registered to Creech.
Trenton Police Detective Tim Mitchell, the lead investigator on the case, said medical examiners identified Creech through dental records. Mitchell learned the news Tuesday.
The positive identification closes the book on a case that Mitchell investigated for seven months. Creech’s family reported her missing on June 4 and told Mitchell that she suffered from depression. She had recently switched medications, and the family worried it might have confused her.
Her husband last saw her around 6 a.m. that morning. He thought that she went out for a drive and got lost. Mitchell said investigators searched the area where they later found her.
But they didn’t find anything last summer. Mitchell now thinks the thick vegetation hid her remains at the time.
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or 423-758-6476.