There has been speculation on social media that skeletal remains found in Buckeye, Arizona, might be those of Daniel Robinson, a young geologist who vanished in the area in 2021.
“A person off-roading in a remote desert area near Johnson Road and Southern discovered human skeletal remains. Investigators are currently processing the scene,” the Buckeye Police Department said on its Facebook page.
Speculation has erupted that the remains could belong to Robinson, who disappeared from a desert geology site in 2021 at the age of 24.
“Out of respect for deceased, I’ve covered the skull and vertebrae shown in the original photo of a woman who found skeletonized human remains yesterday in Buckeye, Arizona. She called the police and posted the photo on Facebook. There is also a shotgun shell in the photo,” said Lauren Lee Malloy, founder of Unsolved RI, which helps victims and families of cold cases in Rhode Island.
“There are many who believe the remains belong to Daniel Robinson, who vanished in 2021,” Malloy wrote in a follow-up tweet.
Several sleuths and crime experts speculated on social media that the remains may belong to Robinson, but no confirmation has yet been provided.
Forensic examination of the remains was turned over to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office.
In 2021, volunteers searching for Robinson found a vertebra, two femur bones, and both sides of a pelvis near where he disappeared.
As a hydrogeologist, Robinson was last seen in Buckeye on June 23, 2021, when he abruptly left a site in the desert. A rancher found Robinson’s 2017 Jeep Renegade in a ravine on July 19, 2021.
Phoenix is about 30 miles from Buckeye.