Hunter finds skeletal remains at Range on Monday morning

Conecuh County officials announced earlier this week that skeletal remains had been found in the Range community and that those remains likely belong to a Georgia man who disappeared in October.

Conecuh County Sheriff Randy Brock announced on Tuesday that his office received a call on Monday morning from a hunter who reported finding a driver’s license, a credit card and possible skeletal remains in the Range community. Brock and deputies went to the scene, a wooded area near the intersection of Range Cemetery Road and State Highway 41, where they found additional items of evidence and additional skeletal remains.

Brock said that the identity of the skeletal remains was awaiting scientific verification. However, personal identification found at the scene matches that of 31-year-old Brian Estrada of Buford, Ga., who has been missing since early October.

Brock noted that Conecuh County Coroner Michael Lambert was also called to the scene, and Lambert collected the skeletal remains for transport to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Mobile. Lambert said that the man’s cause of death remained unknown as of Tuesday afternoon and remained pending the results of an autopsy at state labs in Mobile. Lambert noted that no guns, other weapons or drugs were found at the scene and that there was no obvious cause of death.

Estrada’s family has been notified of the find, and Lambert said that Estrada’s dental records have been requested for a comparison with the skeletal remains. Lambert said that he expects to receive the autopsy results in one to two weeks.

Lambert said that the remains were found in a wet, muddy area, but the person’s clothes were still largely intact. He noted that the clothes were wet, but if dried, they would have been in relatively good condition.

Brock and Lambert both noted that the skeletal remains were found about a quarter of a mile from where local residents found on Oct. 7 an abandoned black 2020 Toyota Corolla that belonged to Estrada. The car was found on Range Cemetery Road with its engine running, with the radio on and with Estrada’s phone, computer and a .380-caliber handgun still inside. The car’s driver’s side door was open, and a bag of uneaten Waffle House food was sitting untouched on a seat inside. 

Law enforcement officials went to the scene at that time and launched a search that involved Conecuh County Sheriff’s deputies, the fugitive dog tracking team from Holman Prison in Atmore, an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency helicopter and a rescue dive team. No trace of Estrada was found at that time.

Estrada’s family established a GoFundMe account on Oct. 20 to raise money to hire a private investigator, which they did in early November. On Nov. 2, Estrada’s cousin Allison Henao of Atlanta announced that they had been able to determine that Estrada was staying at a La Quinta Inn in New Orleans before his disappearance. Around midnight on Oct. 6, Estrada called 911 and was taken to East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La. to be treated for a “severe panic attack,” Henao said.  

“We are still unsure as to when he left the hospital, what happened after he left, or what time he left New Orleans the following morning,” she said. Henao also noted that the investigation has also been hindered by hurricane damage, which knocked out power to New Orleans, making it difficult to review video footage there. 

Investigators believe that Estrada was apparently traveling back to Georgia from the New Orleans area when he disappeared. Investigators noted that Estrada’s vehicle had been on Range Cemetery Road since at least 2 p.m. on Oct. 7. A county employee noticed the car when he passed by on a motor-grader. At the time, the employee did not consider the presence of the car suspicious. 

Henao said that Estrada had worked in the construction and technology fields but was currently unemployed. She said that he had a six-year-old son and that it was highly unusual for Estrada to be out of contact with his family for more than a day. She said that he was highly active on social media, but since his disappearance there had been no activity on any of his social media accounts. She said that the last transaction on his bank account was at 3:40 a.m. on Oct. 7.