Submitted photo of Chester Johnson
Human remains found in Garvin County more than 25 years ago have been identified as Chester Johnson of Duncan, the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office announced this week. According to a statement released Tuesday by the Sheriff’s Office, the remains were found in a rural area west of Paoli in 2000.
Though an investigation was conducted, including further examination by the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, authorities were unable to identify the individual at the time.
The case took a turn in March of 2015, when Daniel Johnson contacted the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing persons report regarding his father, Chester Johnson.
Daniel reported that his father had been missing for over 20 years and was last seen by family members in December 1995 in Duncan. Daniel said the family had been informed that Chester’s vehicle was reportedly found in 1996 in a field just outside the city limits near Pauls Valley.
As part of continued efforts to identify missing persons, Daniel Johnson and other family members voluntarily provided DNA samples to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
The DNA analysis resulted in a positive identification, and authorities were able to confirm the remains found near Paoli were those of Chester Johnson.
The Johnson family received formal notification Jan. 15 that the remains had been identified.
Johnson’s manner and cause of death have not been released and remain under investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Johnson, who was 50 at the time he went missing, was also a Cherokee Nation tribal member.
“Through a Missing and Unidentified Human Remains (MUHR) grant funded by the Justice Department's Bureau for Justice Assistance (BJA), the Center for Human Identification at UNT Health Fort Worth has been able to increase its efforts assisting with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) cases. This outreach has been very successful toward developing trusted relationships in Indigenous communities, resulting in 53 identifications to date,” said Dr. Mike Coble, executive director of the Center for Human Identification at UNT.
Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett said the identification reflects the combined efforts of multiple agencies and programs, including the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, NamUs, the Center for Human Identification at UNT Health Fort Worth, and federal grant support through the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The MUHR program has been especially impactful in assisting cases involving Native and Indigenous persons, where missing persons rates remain disproportionately high.
Mullett praised the collective effort and emphasized the importance of perseverance in long-term investigations.
“The Garvin County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to working alongside partner agencies to pursue justice, provide answers to families, and ensure that no case is ever forgotten,” Mullett said.
