Son exhumes missing dad's body after 37 years - only to find a stranger's remains

Son exhumes missing dad's body after 37 years - only to find a stranger's remains Mark Wells paid to have what he believed were his father's remains exhumed, and DNA tests confirmed the buried body was not his missing dad Dale Wayne Wells A son who was told his 'missing' father had died more than 40 years ago has exhumed the body — only to discover they buried the wrong person. Mark Wells, 52, has spent decades questioning what truly happened to his dad Dale Wayne Wells, who vanished aged 38 in February 1985. After growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of answers from the authorities, he paid to have his father's remains exhumed, hoping that new DNA evidence might help unravel the mystery. But Mark was left stunned when the results came back — revealing that the man he had buried and mourned as a child was not his father at all, but a complete stranger. He has now condemned the "inexcusable" blunder, which he believes may have been a way for police to 'close' a missing persons enquiry without carrying out the most basic checks. The body he believed to be Dale's was discovered in Colfax, California, just a quarter of a mile from his then-wife's home, eight months after he was reported missing. According to his son, the body had been "ransacked" by animals. Police have never established how Dale died or who was responsible, leaving Mark desperately searching for the truth. Mark, a business owner from Bay Area, California, said: "I want to know why that person is buried in the ground instead of my father. "Most importantly, I want to know if my father is alive. I don't know if he has passed away - I want answers. When I got the results back, I was mad, mad that something like this could happen." So far, police have been unable to identify the man, and have now reopened his father's missing persons case. Mark revealed that in August 2019, frustrated at hitting a wall with the authorities, he paid for the exhumation himself. However, when the results came back in May 2022, he discovered that the man his family had buried was not his father at all. Mark was just 12 years old when his mother broke the news that his father had been killed in a hunting accident. As he grew up, he never pressed for answers about his father's death. At 18, Mark enlisted in the Marine Corps. Among the documents he was required to bring was his father's death certificate, which listed the cause of death as "unknown". "I had always been told that my father was killed in a hunting accident," Mark said. "I told my mum how I saw his death certificate, and I saw that my father's death was unknown. She apologised and said she didn't want to tell me the truth about what happened." Mark subsequently learnt that his father had vanished eight months before being discovered dead by his grandfather in woodland just a quarter of a mile from his then-wife's home. He was told that three bullets were found near his father's body, leading many to believe he had taken his own life - but Mark refused to accept that theory, and police were never able to confirm the cause of death. He said: "The night my dad disappeared, he was driving back home to Colfax from Sacramento, where he worked, to see his then wife and my half siblings. "I am thinking that he got himself in a really sticky situation. At the scene where the body was found, there were bullets on the ground - showing that a gun had been fired by someone. "The body had been up there for eight months, ransacked by animals. My grandfather was the one who found him; and notified the police." During the early 2000s, Mark visited the sheriff's office requesting to discuss his father's case with the sheriff. However, he claims he was told, "If you're trying to reopen this case, stop now because there is nothing you can do to reopen it. "Then the sheriff walked off," Mark said. "The lady behind the counter said that she would do everything she could to reopen the case. So that is when I did everything I could and started digging in." Mark explained that nothing added up about his father's case, and after speaking to friends and relatives - they all insisted he would never have taken his own life. In August 2019, Mark had the body exhumed hoping to find answers, yet it only raised further questions for Mark, as results revealed the man in the grave was not his father. The firm compared DNA from the bone to DNA from Dale's sister, Sharon Service. In a letter addressed to Mark, Mitrotyping Technologies, who conducted the DNA analysis on the bones, stated that Dale can be "excluded as the contributor to the biological material questioned bone sample." Mark said: "I was so mad when I got the news. It was emotional for me when my wife got home. I told her about the results and broke down. I was thinking, number one, that isn't my father in my ground, and number two, does that mean he is still alive?" The Placer County Sheriff's Office has since informed Mark that his father's missing persons case has been reopened, as his dad remains unaccounted for. Yet, years later, Mark is no closer to uncovering the truth about what happened to his father. "It is frustrating for sure," Mark said. "All I want is answers, but I feel like nobody is truly willing to help me. I want to know if my dad is alive, and if not, what happened to him?" A spokesperson for Placer County Sheriff's Office said: "The Placer County Coroner's Office positively identified the remains as those of Dale Wells through dental records. After the identification was confirmed, the remains were released to the next of kin."