Skeletal remains discovered in Miramar Beach in October 2022 have been positively identified as Jacob Lyon, a 19-year-old Niceville man who went missing in late 2015, officials announced Monday.
- The Walton County Sheriff’s Office and Niceville Police Department held a joint press conference at the Niceville Community Center to announce the identification, which came after DNA analysis by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement matched the remains to samples collected from Lyon’s family nearly a decade ago.
Lyon was last seen in late 2015 and was reported missing by his mother, Judith, on Feb. 1, 2016. He was entered into state and national missing persons databases the same day.
“Jacob is home. Jacob is back with his family, and the family is able to make a little bit of closure,” said Maj. Dustin Cosson of the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
The remains were found in a wooded lot near Leeward Drive in Miramar Beach, behind what was then a Sleep Inn hotel. The area has changed significantly since Lyon’s disappearance, officials said, with the hotel no longer standing.
The identification process took more than three years. The District One Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an initial examination from October 2022 through November 2023, determining the remains belonged to someone between 13 and 20 years old. Evidence was then sent to FDLE for DNA analysis, which confirmed the match on Jan. 21.
Lt. John Lee, who began investigating Lyon’s disappearance as a detective in 2016, said he has worked closely with the family throughout the case.
- “My number one priority was to try and find closure for his mother, Judy, who’s been working with me fairly close this entire time,” Lee said.
The Niceville Police Department conducted seven interviews with family members and friends on Feb. 2, 2016, the day after the missing persons report was filed. Investigators also performed forensic analysis on Lyon’s cell phone. Over the years, detectives followed up on more than 20 tips, including reported sightings and possible locations of a body, using cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar in searches across Florida and surrounding states.
Investigators said the case is now an active death investigation. Officials would not speculate on the circumstances of Lyon’s death but said evidence found near the remains will be examined as part of the ongoing investigation.
“This is not by all means the end of an investigation, but it’s the furtherance and start of another investigation,” Cosson said. “We may not ever get all the answers. That is an unfortunate part of this job.”
Chief Mark Hayes of the Niceville Police Department extended condolences to Lyon’s family on behalf of the department and the city.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Walton County Sheriff’s Office or the Niceville Police Department.
