NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 17-month mystery is now solved in DeKalb County after a skull was identified as a missing man.
Sheriff Patrick Ray told NewsChannel 5 that Matthew Braswell's skull was found on the shoreline of Center Hill Lake in March. The skull was sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Nashville, along with other bones after they were found. The examiner then sent the skull to another lab for DNA testing. They used DNA from Braswell’s mother to compare to the DNA in the teeth of the skull.
The first clue in the disappearance of Braswell turned up during March when the human skull was found not far from where Braswell was last seen on December 17, 2021. That was when he ran from the scene of a crash on Ponder Road off Cookeville Highway. He was age 29 at the time.
More evidence including a shoe, sock, and a bone surfaced during a follow-up visual search in the same area. Sheriff Ray says the sock and shoe were consistent with the clothing Braswell was wearing when last seen.
A little more than a month later on April 17, additional remains, keys and clothing were located during an expanded search effort in the same area.
The exact cause of Braswell’s death has not been determined.
