Skeletal remains found in Panola County identified as missing Texas woman from 2019
PANOLA COUNTY, Texas (KETK) - The Panola County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday, that skeletal remains found by a work crew in July have been identified as a woman who has been missing since 2019.
Sheriff Cutter Clinton said the remains were identified as Lauren Elizabeth Thompson who went missing from the Rock Hill community on Jan. 10, 2019. She was 32 years old at the time.
Panola County is in East Texas on the Texas-Louisiana border.
"Our office will be diligent on pursuing all relevant investigative leads," Clinton said. "Please keep the family of Lauren in your prayers."
Her remains were discovered by a work crew in July, and were sent to an anthropological lab for identification.
At the time of her disappearance, Sheriff Kevin Lake said that Thompson's phone died while she was on the phone with 911 and that she was in a wooded area and thought someone was chasing her.
“One person she was with told us they had been in the area, reportedly fishing," Lake said in 2019. “He said he then told her he was going to walk to his house to get a vehicle to get them out of the mud, but then she took off running into the woods.”