Remains of missing MMA fighter David Koenig found in the woods in Branson, Missouri

An outdoorsman walking through the woods of the Missouri Ozarks last week stumbled across something shocking: what looked like a skeleton. The man searched the wooded area for deer antlers, but instead they solved a two-year mystery that haunts the town of Branson.

On Monday, a forensic pathologist confirmed the remains were those of David Koenig, a mixed martial arts fighter who disappeared in early 2020.

Koenig is an amateur boxer whose family lives in the Ozark community. Relatives became worried for him after he went missing on February 8, 2020 and reported him missing in March of that year.

According to the report of First OzarksHis mother, Tracy Koenig, organized searches, spoke to the media and moderated the 14,000-member Facebook group. Mystery of the missing fighter! in a constant effort to find her son.

At the time of his disappearance, she told Springfield News-Leader that he lived at a motel, the Peach Tree Inn, near the highway strip. He sent a text message the night he disappeared asking for help, according to News about Branson Tri-Lakes.

Relatives told the paper Koenig was known to be “off the grid” for long periods of time, but as his disappearance dragged on for weeks, then months, they feared the worst.

“[T]As time goes on, the window of hope gets smaller,” Tracy Koenig posted in October after being missing for 20 months. “20 months of our life at a standstill… 20 months without his crazy laughter and voice… and 20 long months full of nightmares, tears and frustration. We need answers but mostly we just need David to stay home with us.”

In one statement Announced Monday, the Branson Police Department said that after Koenig was reported missing, officials organized a multi-state search across Missouri and Arkansas using volunteer search and excavation teams. and dead dogs.

Koenig was eventually found along Fall Creek Road, a wooded area in Branson crossed by a creek. Police said that although the cause of death has not been determined, it appears that Koenig died from injury or foul play. The statement added that investigators conducted a thorough search of the area and found many of Koenig’s remains and some of his personal belongings.

“He was not shot, not stabbed, no broken bones of any kind,” Tracy Koenig wrote to the Facebook group Monday. “He was not robbed, as his tattered wallet was still intact as were the two silver necklaces he always kept.[e] among a few other things. All rumors are WRONG! Nobody killed Dave. Nobody! He left Peachtree on foot and never came home. Why he crashed, and why he went through the jungle…we will most likely never know.”

She describes her son First Ozarks is “an incredible person… Literally, bigger than life. Not just physically, but about everything about him. He is a big, beautiful, gentle, and heart of gold tycoon.”

On Facebook, she thanked the members of Mystery of the missing fighter! group to “go above and beyond and help us find the real Dave, help pay for billboards and private investigators, share my posts, solicit tips, hand out flyers all over the country.”

Branson Police Assistant Sheriff Eric Schmitt said, each KY3, that it’s not the result anyone was expecting.

“To say that this case doesn’t affect anyone in the agency would be a complete mistake,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what we’re investigating we’ve asked about Dave.”