Remains identified as man missing since 2004

KINGSPORT, Tenn. — Police say they have a break in a nearly 13-year-old missing person case after a woman walking in a wooded area near Fairview Avenue recently discovered human remains.

The Kingsport Police Department, in a statement released Wednesday, said the remains were found April 1 about 200 yards from the 1500 block of Fairview Avenue, where David Ratliff lived. In October 2004, Ratliff, 41, was reported missing by his sister. Police said Ratliff suffered multiple medical afflictions and had been treated just one month previous for a fall.

Immediately after the discovery of the remains, the East Tennessee State University Forensic Center and the University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology responded to the scene. The remains were identified as Ratliff and have since been sent to UT-Knoxville. There they will undergo a full forensic examination to determine the cause of death.

“While the missing person portion of the original case is no longer in question, it remains an active unexplained death investigation by the KPD Criminal Investigations Division,” the statement said. “As such, no additional details will be released at this time.”

Wednesday’s statement on the discovery is the first information that has been released to the public, while a report on the find from April 1 was redacted from public records reviewed by the Times-News.