BENTON COUNTY, ARK -Authorities say part of a human leg found in an Arkansas lake in 2001 has been identified as that of a Kansas man who drowned nearly 30 years ago.

In July of 2001, human remains consisting of a lower leg were discovered on the shoreline of Indian Creek Park at Beaver Lake in Benton County Arkansas, according to a media release from the sheriff’s department.

The remains were unidentified and therefore placed into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Database. Over the years there has been no match in the database, and the case has remained cold.

In July 2016, Detective Sergeant Hunter Petray, reopened the case and explored the possibility that the remains could belong to a drowning victim.

Reports were researched consisting of drowning victims whose bodies were never recovered. An individual by the name of Steve Dale Peterson from Kansas was identified as having drowned in the vicinity of Indian Creek Park in October 1989.

Due to the conditions of the lake, Mr. Peterson’s body was never recovered.

Sergeant Petray was able to track down living relatives of Mr. Peterson in Kansas.

Mr. Peterson’s 93-year-old mother and 69-year-old sister came to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office in order to provide DNA samples for comparison.

DNA samples were developed in April 2017 and compared against the unidentified remains found at Indian Creek. The testing provided a positive match between the DNA samples and remains.

Mr. Peterson’s family was notified of the positive findings. A death certificate will now be issued for Steven Dale Peterson and the remains will be released back to the family for proper burial.