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SALT LAKE CITY — Two sets of human remains have finally been identified as that of Jerry and Susan McFalls, a West Jordan couple who went missing about two years ago.
The remains originally were found on Oct. 18, 2018, in the desert near the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona south of St. George, according to a news release from the Mohave County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office.
One set of the remains was identified as 62-year-old Susan Marie McFalls on Nov. 1, 2018, the sheriff’s office said.
Medical examiners used medical records and a medical device that was located with the remains to identify Susan’s body.
The second set of remains was not identified as 62-year-old Jerry’s body until Thursday. Medical examiners used DNA analysis to identify his body.
The couple had not been heard from since Jan. 11, 2018. They had a second home near Littlefield, Arizona, and traveled between there and their main home in West Jordan, according to family members.
They told family members they were coming back to West Jordan from Littlefield on the day they went missing.
When sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant on Jan. 21, 2018, at the couple’s Littlefield home, they found the house unlocked and pickup trucks that appeared to be in the process of being loaded. Two dogs were inside the house without food or water, and a purse, wallet and cellphone were left on the kitchen table.
The case is currently being investigated as a homicide, according to Mohave County sheriff's public information officer Anita Mortensen. A cause of death has not been determined for either Jerry or Susan McFalls, she said.
No one has been named as a person of interest or suspect in the case, but investigators are not ruling anyone out at this point, Mortensen added.
It’s still unknown how the McFalls got to the area where their remains were found, which family members say is several miles away from the couple’s home.
Family members previously told KSL that the couple did not walk long distances and usually took a side-by-side or car.
The sheriff’s office is still investigating how the couple got to that area and is not releasing that information as of Thursday, Mortensen said. It remains a very active and open investigation, she added.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to call the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753.
