KOKOMO, Ind. — An investigation into skeletal remains discovered in rural Miami County has confirmed the fate of a Kokomo woman last seen in 2016.

Karena McClerkin was last seen on October 11, 2016. She was last seen in the 1000 block of South Washington Street.

“She walked into a house on S Washington; the 1000 block; and she never walked out supposedly,” McClerkin’s grandmother told FOX59 in a 2020 interview.

Court documents revealed that the home was an apartment where Flint Farmer was living at the time. Multiple witnesses told police that she was at the apartment, some even reported hearing Farmer and a woman “wrestling” in a room in the apartment. Some reported the sounds of a woman “being hurt.”

Farmer was arrested in July 2022 on a drug dealing charge, and court documents state investigators got a lead on McClerkin’s fate during prison phone calls made by Farmer.

During one call from Nov. 18, 2016, investigators said Farmer sounded nervous and scared, telling someone to watch the news because he believed “they found the body of the missing girl.”

Investigators followed evidence, leading to the discovery of remains they believed to be McClerkin. The scene processing resulted in the discovery of what appeared to be human skeletal remains.

A forensic pathologist at the Howard County Coroner’s Office performed an autopsy on the remains and the Indiana State Police Laboratory was requested to examine the evidence to identify the remains.

On Thursday, the Kokomo Police Department got a certificate of analysis, which made a positive DNA identification of the recovered body as McClerkin.

The case remains an active investigation. Anyone with additional information is asked to call Lieutenant Richard Benzinger at 765-456-7324 or the Kokomo Police Department Hotline at (765) 456-7017.

People can also call Central Indiana Crime Stoppers at 1-800-262-TIPS with an anonymous tip.

In A July 20 news conference, police said additional arrests are anticipated.