CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Forensic analysts have identified human remains found in a wastewater lift station as those of missing Texas A&M student Caleb Harris.
City workers discovered the remains on June 24 while conducting maintenance at the Perry Place wastewater lift station on Lexington Road. The remains were transported to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office, but due to advanced decomposition, identification was not possible at the time. The remains were then sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) for DNA analysis, along with samples from Harris’s parents.
According to a report from UNTCHI, the remains are “approximately 2.4 sextillion times more likely to be observed if the unidentified remains originated from a biological child of (Caleb Harris’s parents) rather than if the unidentified remains originated from an unrelated individual from the Caucasian population.”
Harris, a student at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, disappeared from his off-campus apartment on March 4, 2024. The Corpus Christi Police Department (CCPD) conducted an extensive search involving multiple units and resources, including the Coast Guard, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and Texas Search and Rescue, among others.
An investigative team comprising the CCPD’s Criminal Investigation Division, Organized Crime Unit, FBI, United States Marshals Service, and Texas Rangers was formed shortly after Harris’s disappearance. Over the following months, investigators executed over 50 digital search warrants, submitted 82 preservation requests, and analyzed more than 1500 GB of data.
The remains will be returned to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office for a final autopsy report. Despite the identification, the investigation remains open. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Corpus Christi Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at (361) 826-2840 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (888-8477).