Autumn McClure: Human remains discovered in Florida identified as 16-year-old teen missing since 2004
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
FLORIDA, UNITED STATES: According to the Volusia Sheriff's Office, detectives discovered human remains while excavating a suspected burial site on the afternoon of February 28, 2024.
Initially, they believed the remains were those of a missing 16-year-old girl from Ormond Beach, who disappeared in 2004. As per Fox News, it has now been confirmed that the remains belong to 16-year-old Autumn Lane McClure.
McClure, a student at Mainland High School, was last seen on May 10, 2004, when her boyfriend dropped her off at the Volusia Mall.
Currently, McClure is allegedly thought to have been killed by her boyfriend, Brian Donley, who was the initial suspect in her disappearance. It's worth noting that Donley died in May 2022.
Further details regarding the teenager's remains and the progress of the investigation have been disclosed by the Volusia Sheriff's Office.
What did the Volusia County Sheriff's Office report?
In a recent update provided on Thursday, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office reported, "This week, VSO Crime Scene Unit personnel and an ANDE Rapid DNA scientist developed a profile from DNA extracted from the bones recovered at the Ormond Beach burial site."
The extracted DNA was then cross-referenced with that of Autumn McClure's family.
"Rather than sending DNA to a state lab for analysis, the use of VSO's in-house ANDE Rapid DNA technology significantly reduced the time it took to make an official identification for the family," stated the sheriff’s office.
What happened to Autumn McClure?
Autumn McClure, 16, was reported missing by her grandmother in May 2004, after her boyfriend's assertion that he dropped her off at a mall.
However, he later confessed to leaving her at a bridge, where she purportedly departed with a woman named Jessica Freeman.
Investigations uncovered that McClure had been residing with Freeman, a co-worker from Winn-Dixie supermarket, along with Freeman’s then-31-year-old boyfriend, Brian Donley, who were all entangled in a romantic relationship.
Their residence was in the Shady Oaks mobile home park, where they professed ignorance regarding McClure's whereabouts, claiming she stayed with them briefly.
In 2021, the sheriff’s office received a tip implicating Donley or his girlfriend in the death of a teenage girl in Volusia County.
Subsequently, investigators pursued the tip, acquiring additional evidence. Donley died during a medical procedure in 2022, and posthumously, Freeman was granted immunity, revealing that she witnessed Donley strangling McClure.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood stated, "She came home one afternoon and saw Brian choking Autumn in the bathroom. By the time she intervened, she saw that Autumn was lifeless, and she left the trailer where they lived."
Freeman disclosed to investigators that Donley had threatened her with death if she ever disclosed McClure’s murder.
Freeman is not considered a suspect. Over the two decades since McClure vanished, the property where the trailer once stood changed ownership multiple times, and a new trailer was installed in 2021.
Last week, the sheriff’s office successfully removed the trailer and its underlying concrete to facilitate the property excavation.
Chitwood expressed a hope that although Donley eluded justice in life, "I’m hoping to God that when he took his last breath on May 26 of 2022, that maybe he had a vision of where the hell he was headed."
