Man’s grisly find unexpectedly ends two-year search for missing MMA fighter David Koenig

A man searching for deer antlers in a wooded area of Missouri discovered human remains identified as missing amateur Mixed Martial Arts fighter David Koenig, police say.

The grisly discovery brings an end to the nearly two-year search for Koenig, who was 25 when he was last seen in a Branson motel in February 2020.

The remains were found in the woods near the 3700 block of Fall Creek Road in Branson, located in the Ozarks region, on December 22, local police said on Monday.

The man who found them called authorities, who responded to the scene and determined the remains were human.

Investigators from the Branson Police Department and the Taney County Coroner’s Office conducted a “meticulous search” of the area, “recovering mosts of the remains and several other personal artefacts”, police said.

On Monday, officials determined the human remains belonged to Koenig.

A forensic pathologist determined “there was no trauma and that the death did not appear to be the result of foul play”, according to the police release.

Investigators had spent thousands of hours looking for Koenig, including conducting several searches of properties in Taney and Stone counties in Missouri as well as Boone County, Arkansas, police said.

“Our department and the amazing group of volunteers never stopped in our efforts to find Mr Koenig,” Branson Police Chief Jeff Matthews said.

“While this is not the ending we hoped for, we offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Koenig.”

The circumstances around his death remain unclear, with his mother Tracy Koenig saying they will “most likely never know”.

The grieving mother thanked a Facebook group dedicated to finding her son for their efforts.

“He was not shot, stabbed, no broken bones