Portage County — It is a cold case out of Portage County that had been growing colder for almost 7 years.
Monday, when researchers in the woods in Suffield Township found a human skull, Jared McCauley's family found hope they will finally have some answers.
If his aunts' intuition is on, they may soon be able to put that part of wondering where he is to rest.
McCauley would have been 30 years old. Instead on his birthday every single year since he disappeared, his family posts pleas for information.
Because memories are all sisters Karen Gerk and Trish Jones have of their nephew Jared McCauley.
He was 24-years-old on December 31, 2011. That day, New Year’s Eve, was the last time anyone heard from McCauley.
"Here we are for the past 7 years not knowing anything, not hearing anything," said Gerk.
No body. No arrests.
But McCauley’s aunts don't have any doubt that Jared was murdered.
"He was killed in the winter and I think about winter time in Ohio. And his body lying there. Then August in Ohio and it's 95-100 degrees. Then ANOTHER cold winter, Another hot summer. Almost 7 years now," Jones says, still upset just saying the words.
Then on Monday, 2 researchers doing a project in a densely wooded area of Suffield Township in Portage County found a skull. Cadaver dogs later found an arm bone.
The Portage County Sheriff's Office is not saying the exact location, but Jones and Gerk say they heard it was near where Jared was living when he disappeared.
On the neighbor’s property, as a matter of fact, they say.
"Right away I knew in my heart it was him. We're praying it's him. I'm praying it is. We are," both Gerk and Jones say, sisters so connected they finish each other’s sentences.
The bones are with an anthropologist at Mercyhurst, according to Major Larry Limbert with the Portage County Sheriff’s Department.
He says the first step there is to try to figure out sex and age of the bones and how long they have been there.
Then, Linbert says BCI could make a DNA match.
Jones and Gerk say the Sheriff’s Department has asked for Jared’s grandmother’s DNA.
Closure for this family feels close.
"We need to have a memorial for him. We never had that," says Gerk.
Then there was this bizarre twist Thursday. Gerk just finished an interview with a newspaper reporter/ When she went out to her car, she found her sister Terri's driver’s license under the seat.
Terri is Jared's mom who died a year and a half after Jared went missing.
"The issue date was 7-26-2013. 5 years ago to the day. That’s Terri saying you're on the right track. Thank you."
Linbert says there are 6 missing person reports in Portage County that they will also look into as well as running the forensics through a nationwide database of missing persons.
However, detectives need information from the state crime lab first, and there is no definitive timetable for that.