The skeletal remains found Friday in a rural, wooded area of Monroe County, Michigan, have been confirmed as that of Chelsea Bruck, who was last seen wearing her homemade costume at a Halloween party last October, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Monroe County sheriffs announced the identification, confirmed by dental records, late Saturday and said that enough evidence collected at the scene near train tracks in Carleton indicated the 22-year-old was murdered.
Bruck's family was not available for comment, the Free Press reported. But a person who identified himself as the victim's brother, Nathaniel Bruck, gave thanks on Facebook to everyone involved in the effort to find Chelsea.
"I want to thank everyone for their efforts. And while this may be the end of the search, it is also a new beginning. The beginning of the search for justice for my sister," he wrote on the page Find Chelsea Bruck.
Police have not released many details about the homicide case- but investigators also admitted they do not yet have a clear picture of how Chelsea Bruck, the youngest of five children, disappeared from the Oct. 25 Halloween party and ended up dead in a privately-owned field about 10 miles away.
"It's been a long, complicated case," Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone said, the newspaper reported. "It was a puzzle...we're at three quarters of the puzzle. And we're not gonna stop."
Months of searching led to the victim's Poison Ivy costume being found in an empty industrial site in Flat Rock in early April. On Friday, the owner of the overgrown Carleton property was clearing the area during construction of a house when the body was found.
Malone would not say if they have any persons of interest. The property owner is not a suspect in the case, the newspaper reported.
Whoever killed Bruck was probably familiar with the railroad tracks in the area and is believed to have disposed of the body several months ago, police said.
"In all likelihood, the crime was committed at or near where the body was located," the sheriff said.
As the homicide investigation continues, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's office, which conducted the autopsy, said a cause of death could not yet be determined, the newspaper reported.
It could take another month before officials conclude how Bruck died.
