Investigators have confirmed that a body found in southwest Iowa Monday is that of a missing Atlantic man. The body was discovered in a highway culvert, not far from the home where 26-year-old Justin Hoeck was last seen early Saturday morning.
Don Schreffler of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is the agent in charge of investigating the incident. Schreffler says the full autopsy results won’t be available until toxicology tests have been completed, so the cause of death has been determined. Schreffler says the initial results showed no outward indications of foul play in Hoeck’s death, although he says that possibility has not been completed eliminated.
Hoeck’s fiance, Cassie Weeks, reported his disappearance after Hoeck left another residence in Atlantic sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Saturday and failed to make it home. An Iowa DOT employee inspecting a concrete culvert on the city’s west side discovered Hoeck’s body at around 11 a.m. Monday.