Corpus Christi Police Department

CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS - (News Release) Forensic Analysts with the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNTCHI) have determined that the human remains found inside a City Wastewater Lift Station last month are most likely those of missing person Caleb Harris.

City workers conducting maintenance at the Perry Place wastewater lift station, located off the 5300 block of Lexington Road, discovered the remains inside awastewater collection well during the afternoon of MondayJune 24th and immediately contacted the Police Department. 

The remains, which bore no obvious signs of homicide, were transported to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination.  Due to the advanced state of decomposition, the Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to make an identification, nor provide a manner or cause of death at that time.  The remains were then sent to the UNTCHI for DNA analysis, along with DNA samples from Harris’s parents. According to the Missing Persons DNA Report issued today by 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.”

Texas A&M Corpus Christi student Caleb Harris disappeared from his off-campus apartment in the foggy early morning hours of Monday March 4th, 2024.  The CCPD organized an exhaustive search of hundreds of acres surrounding Harris’s apartment complex in the days and weeks following his disappearance. CCPD resources involved in the search included the Drone Team, Bike Team, Enduro Unit, 83rd Police Academy Class, Search and Recovery Dive Team, and Directed Patrol Officers.  Additional resources included the Coast Guard, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Port of Corpus Christi Police Department Marine Unit, Texas Search and Rescue, student volunteers from Texas A&M CC, along with countless additional civilian volunteers.  

An investigative team consisting of Investigators from the Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division and Organized Crime Unit, the FBI, the United States Marshals Service, and the Texas Rangers was formed within days of Harris’s vanishing.  Over the course of the following months, investigators executed over 50 digital search warrants, submitted 82 preservation requests, and analyzed over 1500 GB of Data.  

The remains will be returned to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s office, which will then issue the finalautopsy report.  

Although the remains have been identified as Caleb Harris, this investigation remains open.  If you have information regarding this investigation, please contact the Corpus Christi Police Department Criminal Investigation Division at (361) 826-2840 or you can submit an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers 888-TIPS (888-8477).