OGDEN, Utah — After more than 30 years, a Utah family finally has some closure over their loved one’s disappearance.

The Weber County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that it recently confirmed the identity of a victim who was found dead under suspicious circumstances 32 years ago.

Detective Ty Hebdon said that on April 16, 1992, deputies responded to a fire in a field near I-15 and 21st Street in Ogden. In the field, there was a boat that was also burning, and inside the boat was a man’s body.

After the fire was put out, the body was “unrecognizable”, Detective Hebdon said. There were no personal items to identify the victim and she was considered a suspect at the time.

A post-mortem examination was carried out which confirmed the victim to be a male, believed to be between 30-45 years old. However, he still remains unidentified after years of trying to match him with dental records, DNA and more.

This year, the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force was formed, and Hebdon said that particular case has been reexamined. Detectives used advanced DNA testing and “genetic genealogy investigative testing” and finally got a result.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Kevin Lynn Capps.

Investigators learned Capps had a 4-year-old daughter. In August of this year, they managed to contact her and break the news.

In the video below, Chelsea LaRoe (his daughter) and Rhonda Capps (his sister) talk about how they found out Kevin Capps was identified after all these years.

Daughter and sister

LaRoe said she always wondered where her father went.

“I’ve spent my whole life wondering why he left and if he ever thought about me when I was growing up. It made me sad, angry and full of questions,” she said. “Although that day gave me some closure to know, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so I did both.”

She said she and her mother went to the cemetery to visit her father’s grave, where he had been buried in an unmarked grave for years.

Although Capps’ body has finally been identified, it is not known how he died or who killed him, and the investigation is ongoing. The Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information that could help the case to call Detective Hebdon at 801-778-6646 or submit a report/tip online on sheriff’s office website.