OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. (WLOS) — Investigators in South Carolina Friday announced a development nearly 30 years in the making: Human remains found near Westminster 22 years ago were those of a Gaston County man who went missing in 1996.
The Oconee County Coroner and the Greenville Police Department were notified earlier this month that “identification had been established through DNA,” according to a news release from the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office.
The remains discovered in February of 2004 were those of Eric Lee Mason, who was 20 when he was reported missing in 1996. Officials additionally said the remains, when found, were believed to have been of someone who had already been “deceased three to five years.” At the time, investigators also said the remains were those of a white male “with an approximate age range of 21 to 30 at the time of his death.”…