Bones Match Travis County Man Missing 17 Years

Investigators said bones found in a barrel on Lake Buchanan matched a man missing out of Travis County.

Forensic experts said they believe the two elements that helped them with their task hurt someone else's chances of hiding this crime.

In September, lower lake levels revealed a battered 55-gallon drum near the shoreline.

Authorities found a man's skeletal remains and jewelry encased in concrete.

Burnet authorities handed over clues leading to a Travis County missing person's case.

A forensic specialist on the case said the concrete helped preserve and match DNA.

The test identified Charles Maynard Wyatt, 62, who suffered trauma to the head and face.

"They would never think it would be found," said nearby resident Loretta Gahagan. "The second thing if it were found, there'd be nothing there for anybody to identify, because in the 90s we didn't have all this technology."

Travis County has handed over the case to Burnet County and Texas Rangers.

It took the University of North Texas Health Science Center nearly nine months to get the DNA results.

Officials there said they handle hundreds of cases from all over the country, and the long wait is not unusual because of the volume of testing they handle.