AUSTIN, Texas — Johnathan Hamilton was reported missing in 2015 when he was 26. He was last seen in Bastrop.
The search for Johnathan, who was originally from Houston, came to a sad end in August when his jaw bone was found in the Colorado River near Bastrop.
According to the Bastrop County Sheriff's Office, the investigation into how Hamilton died is ongoing.
"The last that was heard from my son was he was at our home on May the 2nd, 2015," said Angela Hamilton, Johnathan's mother. “That day that he left, his dad and him and his little sister had plans to go bowling. There was no argument, there was no fussing.”
When Johnathan was nowhere to be found, Angela reported him missing. She said there's little explanation for why Johnathan could have left but she said he left in his father's vehicle.
Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said Bastrop police encountered Johnathan in 2015 after he was reported missing.
According to our partners at the Statesman, the Bastrop police received a call reporting a suspicious person at the Burleson Crossing Shopping Center.
Sheriff Cook told KVUE that police determined Johnathan was not in danger.
"And they notified the Houston Police Department and the family," Sheriff Cook said.
He also said because they didn't have the legal authority to hold him, police let him go.
Johnathan's family said they drove to Bastrop and found the car he drove in the Best Buy parking lot.
"Out of gas, with a dead battery ... and there was no Johnathan," Angela said.
Fast-forward to August of this year, when a jaw bone that was found by a swimmer in a sandbar on the Colorado River near Bastrop was identified as Johnathan's.
Angela said despite the identification, there is still no closure for her family since they don't know what happened to her son.
"As of what was found, there are no answers," Angela said. “I believe that after this journey that we have been on, that people use the word 'closure' way too easily and way too freely."
Sheriff Cook said the area where the jaw bone was found was searched for more remains with the help of Texas Search and Rescue.
"They had four teams and eight dogs, and they searched the immediate area where the bone was found on the riverbanks and we didn't find anything," Sheriff Cook said.
He also said they are working to solve what happened and are hoping to find new leads.
"It's ongoing. We're reviewing the file as we speak," Sheriff Cook said.
For now, Angela said she's trying to put together a reward for information that could lead to figuring out what happened to her son.
"I believe that someone who is fine and okay … that they don't end up in a river," Hamilton said. "The truth is, I don't know if we will ever know what really happened."
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