A man who was searching for deer antler sheds stumbled upon the remains of missing amateur mixed martial arts fighter David Koenig, police said. The discovery ends a nearly two-year search for Koenig, who was 25 when he was last seen at a Branson motel in February 2020.

The remains were found in the woods near the 3700 block of Fall Creek Road in Branson, Missouri, located in the Ozarks region, on Dec. 22, 2021, local police said in a news release. The man who discovered the remains alerted the authorities. Investigators from the Branson Police Department and the Taney County Coroner’s Office conducted a “meticulous search” of the area, “recovering mosts of the remains and several other personal artifacts,” police said. On Dec. 27, officials determined the human remains belong to Koenig.

A forensic pathologist determined “there was no trauma and that the death did not appear to be the result of foul play,” according to the police release.

Investigators had spent thousands of hours looking for Koenig. They conducted multiple searches of properties in Taney and Stone counties in Missouri as well as Boone County, Arkansas, police said.

“Our department and the amazing group of volunteers never stopped in our efforts to find Mr. Koenig,” said Branson Police Chief Jeff Matthews. “While this is not the ending we hoped for, we offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Koenig.”

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