Clothing found in Iowa matches that of boy missing since May, official says

The human remains of an adolescent were found near the hometown of an 11-year-old boy who was reported missing in May, authorities said Thursday.

A farmer called authorities after finding the remains while doing field work in an area just north of Montezuma, about 60 miles east of Des Moines, NBC affiliate KWWL of Waterloo reported.

Clothing on the body matched what Xavior Harrelson was wearing on May 27, the last day anyone saw the child, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assistant director Mitch Mortvedt said, according to the news station.

The Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office previously said Harrelson was last seen wearing blue pajama bottoms, a red T-shirt and black tennis shoes in Montezuma.

A positive identification on the remains could take weeks to months, Mortvedt said.

In the months since Harrelson’s disappearance, volunteers and officers conducted a number of searches for the boy who was reported missing just days before he turned 11.

Harrelson was classified as a missing child case and not a child abduction, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said at the time. He was described as 4 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing 100 pounds, according to his missing person flyer. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

At a July 25 vigil for Harrelson, his aunt told KWWL that their “whole family wants him home.”

“We are a really close-knit family, and we spend a lot of time together, especially in the summer and over the holidays and we’re missing someone,” Michelle Harrelson said.