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Caleb Harris' parents say remains found in wastewater station are his

CCPD officials confirmed the news Wednesday evening.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi police officials have confirmed with 3NEWS that the human remains found at the wastewater station near Ennis Joslin Road "most likely" belong to missing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi student Caleb Harris.

Harris has been missing since March 4 and was last seen at his off-campus apartment The Cottages at Corpus Christi on Ennis Joslin Road.

Corpus Christi Police Department Public Information Sr. Ofc. Jennifer Collier said in a news release Wednesday night that the report, which was issued Wednesday by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, found that 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."

The remains were sent to the UNTCHI for DNA analysis along with DNA samples from Harris’ parents.

A city worker found the remains June 24 at the lift station at Lexington and Holly roads. They were then sent to a specialized missing-persons clearing house at the University of North Texas for identification. 

Speculation began soon after the remains were found linking them to Harris' disappearance, because of the proximity to Harris' apartment complex.

It is unknown how the remains entered the lift station.

Harris family reacts on social media

The Harris family took to social media to react to the notification from police Wednesday night, posting: 

"We all have heavy hearts this evening as we learned of the positive identification of our sweet Caleb. We will grieve our son, but we are at peace knowing he is with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our only hope is in Jesus. If you don’t know our Savior please talk to me. I love talking about Jesus. Thank you for your prayers and support during this tragic time."

We all have heavy hearts this evening as we learned of the positive identification of our sweet Caleb. We will grieve...

Posted by Becky Wright Harris on Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Police give timeline of his movements

Police said Harris played video games at his apartment with his two roommates and a mutual friend March 3, playing for more than an hour with another former classmate.

At 12:56 a.m. March 4, a Ring doorbell camera at a nearby apartment shows Harris, his friend, and one of Harris' roommates in the apartment complex's parking lot playing with a puppy belonging to one of Harris' roommates' girlfriends. Harris and the two other young men then returned to the apartment.

In the 2 a.m. hour, Harris told a roommate he was going to "order snacks via UberEats for his school lunch" on Monday and sent a Snapchat video to his younger sister. The video showed Harris "walking the puppy through what appears to be the apartment complex parking lot."

In the 3 a.m. hour, Harris sent a Snapchat photo to a high-school friend in San Antonio showing "a small bridge over a drainage ditch on the 1900 block of Ennis Joslin, within a few hundred feet of the entrance to his apartment complex." His cell phone also last shared its location data with the nearest cell phone tower and the UberEats driver delivered Harris' order to his apartment. The order was left outside the front door as Harris had requested.

At 11 a.m., one of Harris' roommates found the UberEats order outside the front door and saw Harris' pickup truck parked in front of the apartment. Harris' wallet and keys were in the apartment but his cell phone was missing. The roommates called police to report Harris missing.

Digital content producer Emily Salazar contributed to this developing story. 3NEWS will provide updates as they become available.

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