Police are investigating the discovery of human remains in a wooded area near Rothbury, Michigan, in connection to the disappearance of Kevin Graves, a 28-year-old man who was last seen attending the nearby Electric Forest music festival in July 2018.
Though Michigan State Police are currently working to identify the remains and have not yet confirmed any details beyond their discovery, Kevin Graves’ father, Gary Graves, told MLive Michigan that police are “99 percent sure” the remains are those of Kevin Graves.
“They said they found his wallet, his phone and he had a [festival] wristband on,” Gary Graves said. “They just got to do an autopsy and dental records and everything and then they’ll get back with us.
Gary Graves said the remains were discovered on private property near the Electric Forest festival site by two hunters on Monday, December 31, MLive Michigan reports.
Kevin Graves vanished on July 1, 2018, after having a verbal altercation with his girlfriend at the festival, according to FOX 17 West Michigan. After the completion of that year’s festival, police and multiple volunteer search crews combed through the Double JJ Resort property where Electric Forest is held, and adjacent properties, but Graves was not found.
In the years since, the Graves family has publicly pushed to locate Kevin Graves, attending Electric Forest every year to distribute flyers and gather information about his disappearance, according to FOX 17 West Michigan. A billboard with Kevin Graves’ photo and a plea for information about the case has stood visible from the festival site since 2023.
No autopsy timeline has been given by the Michigan State Police, who are working with Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine to identify the remains, according to FOX 17 West Michigan.
“If there is a confirmation that it is indeed [Kevin Graves], we will begin to work on further information to determine how he ended up there from where he was last seen and what was the manner and cause of death,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told MLive Michigan.
Update: 4:34 PM
The Michigan State Police have confirmed that the found remains are those of Kevin Graves. The state police’s sixth district announced on X, formerly Twitter, that the remains were identified via dental record comparison by forensic anthropologists at Western Michigan University.
The police statement went on to say that the cause of death is yet to be determined and may take several months to uncover. There are “no indications of foul play at this time,” according to police.
Featured image courtesy: Find Kevin Graves Facebook.
