A body found earlier this month near a western Iowa highway has been identified as a missing Pennsylvania man.
On June 19, two railroad workers discovered the body near Highway 30, between Vail and Westside. Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuehler says an autopsy was conducted at the state medical examiner’s lab and the body has been identified.
“The identity is that of 44-year-old Jonathan Elwell of Shillington, Pennsylvania, whose rented vehicle was found in rural Crawford County, Iowa, back on April 20, 2012,” the sheriff says. “At this time, foul play is not suspected.”
Steinkuehler says additional tests are pending, as the actual cause of death has not been determined. Elwell was last seen in Pennsylvania on April 17. Elwell did not own a car and rented the vehicle found abandoned in western Iowa; his bicycle was found in the rental car’s trunk.
(Reporting by Michael Earl, KDSN, Denison)