Scenario - A relative disappears into thin air for no apparent reason. The authorities suspect foul play, but no body is ever found within weeks of the disappearance. Then some years later, a miracle happens - the body is found as is it was dropped from the sky and in plain sight for anyone to see. Could this happen to you? Could it happen in a small farming community rather than the most obvious setting - the metropolitan city area? The answer to both is yes and in fact it has happened in Dunklin Co MO. For those who lived in Dunklin Co MO in 2002, this story will sound familiar, but it is one that we must keep in mind should it ever happen to someone in our own family. Back in July 1993 during the week of the MO Peach Fair in Campbell MO, a young man, then 36, disappeared. The authorities from what I understand tried their best to find him, but came up with virtually nothing. It was just as if he decided that he was somewhat fed up with something in his life and left his hometown and family without any contact thereafter as if he wanted to be left alone. Then one day in the fall of 2001, a hunter found skeleton remains in a field in the rural area of Campbell. He reported the finding to the authorities who then proceeded to get the remains identified. After using various available services including DNA from the mother, they were able to identify the remains. In the meantime, the remains were given to the family which allowed them to have a closure in the incident. The case is still considered open with the hopes that the cause of death may be learned. We, the genealogical researchers, now have a research problem created - death is officially recorded as July 1993 (even in the SSDI) but the obit is found in a May 2002 newspaper and of course the funeral services are held in May 2002. Most genealogy programs will probably indicate that the difference between the death and the burial dates are too far apart, but we will need to write comments in our notes regarding the difference so that our children and grandchildren and other relatives will know the truth after we are gone. Today, we are experiencing more cremations than ever. Some request their ashes to be scattered somewhere whereas. Some families will keep the urn of cremated ashes in their possession. I know of two possible results - 1) Urn is buried at a later date; 2) The keeper of the urn passes away and then another family member decides to have the urn buried and a gravemarker set at that time. I know in my husband's family that an urn is being held by the parents with the instructions that it be buried with the child's father when he passes away. Only a few people outside the immediate family know about this. Again, the genealogical program will tell me something appears to be in error, but my notes will clarify the data. Debbi Geer __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com