Missing Gatesville man’s remains found, identified nine years later

GATESVILLE, Texas (KXXV) – After nearly nine years, a cold case has been solved following the discovery of human bones in a remote area.

“You don’t want to think about someone getting lost or missing, or having friends or family wondering how they are doing,” said Heather Ashley, who followed the case. For some people it confused them because you want to know what happened.”

In September 2015, Julia Middleton reported that her 21-year-old son, Cole Middleton, was missing.

“It’s become more than that,” said Georgiana Cleverley of the Gatesville Police Department.

“We quickly realized it was probably more than just hanging out with friends and not contacting his family. We followed the leads as best we could – there weren’t many – and it became a cold case.”

It wasn’t until 2022 that Coryell County sheriff’s deputies were called to a property by a caller who found bones.

By the end of that night, police not only confirmed that the remains were human, but they also found a pocket knife and a piece of a T-shirt.

“When the remains were found, that was one of the first things we thought of, ‘Oh, that could be Cole,’ because of the proximity to where the remains were found,” Cleverley said.

The remains were then sent to Fort Worth. Through lengthy analysis and comparison with his mother’s DNA, it is now confirmed that the remains are in fact Middleton’s.

The lingering question is: why and how did this happen?

Cleverley said they still don’t know.

As for Middleton’s loved ones and the community, the hope is that this brings closure and peace as we now know that Middleton has been found.

“I think it was just the whole closure, having him home and bringing him home, and letting those who cared about him and those who followed the story know that there was an ending, but it wasn’t an ending that anyone wanted,” said Ashley.

Gatesville police removed Middleton from the Texas Crime Information Center missing persons record late last week.

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