Human remains found Monday in an Evans County field were determined to be those of a Claxton man missing for the past three months.

Circumstances under which Leon Mayner, 69, disappeared on July 7 were “questionable,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 5 Special Agent in Charge John Durden said Tuesday.

On Sept. 30, three months after Mayner went missing, the Evans County Sheriff’s Office requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to assist with their missing person investigation, according to a statement released by GBI Tuesday.

“The preliminary investigation revealed that Mayner disappeared under suspicious circumstance,” the statement read.

Durden said “children playing” stumbled across skeletal remains in a field across from Lovett Mobile Home Park in Claxton on Monday, close to where Mayner was last seen. Mayner was identified by evidence found at the scene. 

The remains are being sent to the GBI crime lab for analysis. Further investigation is necessary in order to determine the cause and manner of death, Durden said.

Anyone with information is asked to the call the GBI Regional Office in Statesboro at (912) 871-1121.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.