Staff Reports
Skeletal remains discovered at a campsite in Clay County last year have been identified.
On Feb. 16, the North Carolina State Crime Lab identified the victim as Sean Maclaughlin Wiley, 21, of Ilion, New York who is believed to have been missing since April 2022.
The remains were discovered in September 2022, when a local resident located a campsite near the Appalachian Trail in the Shooting Creek Community. Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigators and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement found numerous camping items and human skeletal remains at the site. Investigators determined a possible identity of the remains based on the items found in the area.
Because of the status of the campsite, the length of time the remains were outdoors and evidence of high animal activity in the area, foul play is not suspected.
Sheriff’s investigators made contact with family members of the suspected victim and obtained a comparison DNA sample for identification.
Investigators sent biological samples from the campsite to the family members who had been notified of this positive identification of Wiley.
The deceased had been discharged from the United States Marine Corp just prior to beginning his hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail.