Remains of a human foot found inside a hiking shoe on the shore of Fish Lake in south-central Utah have been identified as belonging to David White, a man who went missing in 1997, officials confirmed.
The shoe was discovered in May, and investigators determined it was a hiking boot manufactured in 1996 and sold for only one year. This detail helped connect the find to White’s cold case disappearance from September 1997.
White had planned to go fishing with friends and rented a hotel room nearby. When his friends canceled, he went fishing alone. His boat was later found drifting on the lake with no one aboard. A shoe and hat were also found floating in the water, suggesting where White may have fallen in, but there were no witnesses at the time, leaving the circumstances a mystery until now.
The initial search for White lasted five days but yielded no further evidence. “This case has been on the mind of every one of the search and rescue members involved 28 years ago. It is good to finally have some closure for the family and the searchers,” said Sheriff Nathan Curtis.
DNA testing compared samples from the foot to White’s daughter and confirmed a parental match with 99.9994% certainty.
White’s daughter, Stefanie Bennett, expressed gratitude to all involved in the investigation and to the individual and their dog who found the shoe. She said their efforts were crucial to finally bringing answers after nearly three decades.
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