Police, coroner confirm body found in Sacramento is that of missing man Alex Holden, 25
The Sacramento Police Department confirmed Monday morning that a body found Sunday near the American River Parkway and Highway 160 is that of Alex Holden, a missing 25-year-old man last seen leaving midtown in the early hours of Dec. 31.
“Our preliminary investigation leads us to believe that it’s Alex,” Police Department spokesman Officer Karl Chan said. Late Monday, the department said that the coroner positively identified his body.
“This is never the outcome we want from any missing person case, our hope is that this may provide some closure for the family,” the department said on Twitter.
Chan said Holden’s disappearance is now a “closed missing person case.”
“We’re glad that his family at least finally has some closure and can begin the healing process for now,” Chan continued.
Police responded to the area near the bike trail and Highway 160 about 3 p.m. Sunday following reports that a body had been found, according to Chan.
Chan said police were aware that a canvassing effort was underway by the community in that area in search of Holden on Sunday, but he did not know whether the person who discovered the body was part of that effort.
Holden is the son of Calvin Holden and Margaret Palmietto, both judges in Greene County, Missouri. Calvin Holden confirmed his son’s death to the Springfield News-Leader via text message, the newspaper reported late Sunday night.
“Yes, it is true,” Calvin Holden reportedly wrote, declining to go into further detail, except to add, “Alex was a great caring, compassionate person,” according to the News-Leader.
KOLR in Missouri, a sister station of Fox40 in Sacramento, also reported Sunday night that family confirmed Holden’s body had been found.
The “Help Find Alex Holden” Facebook page, which for weeks had given updates on searches and canvassing efforts within the community for the missing man, posted just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday that Holden had been found dead.
“With heavy hearts we have learned Alex was found deceased today at 3:00 p.m on the American River Bike trail,” the Facebook post read, in part. ”Law enforcement has indicated that no foul play was involved. Please keep everyone close to Alex in your prayers.”
The Sacramento Police Department, in a statement sent Sunday night to The Sacramento Bee, first confirmed that it responded to a death investigation in the area of the American River and Highway 160 that afternoon and that foul play was not suspected.
A website that had been dedicated to the search effort for the missing man, once with frequent updates and updated posters containing Holden’s last known location, as of Monday morning had been replaced by a memorial: “Alexander Laird Holden, 1994-2020,” and a black-and-white photo of a smiling Holden leaning against a classic car.
Who was Alex Holden? When was he last seen?
Calvin Holden told the News-Leader earlier in January that Alex lived in Sacramento for about two years, worked at Amazon and did not have a history of disappearing.
Holden’s girlfriend, Kennedi Perri, wrote in social media posts that Alex had gone missing after leaving their apartment in midtown around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 31.
A post to the Sacramento local subreddit page on Reddit created the following day also indicated that Holden had last been seen around that time, near 22nd and I streets, and that he was leaving midtown on foot to walk to an old home in Natomas.
“He’s done the walk / run before; following the Sacramento Northern Bikeway,” the Reddit post said.
Within days, community members and Sacramento police began widely sharing details about Holden, who had last been seen wearing a tan pullover jacket. Two weeks after the disappearance, the Police Department posted the phone number for a tip line for information related to the case.
The Reddit post about Holden’s disappearance garnered nearly 5,000 comments in less than four weeks, many of them from Sacramento locals, sharing information, ideas or theories about the 25-year-old’s possible whereabouts.
Second body found, no evidence of link
“This is just a death investigation at this point as well,” Chan said, adding that investigators had not yet determined whether there were signs of foul play.
The body was that of a woman, according to Chan, but no other details were available. Detectives and coroner’s officials have responded to the scene, he said.
“There’s no indication to believe that this was related to the body that was found yesterday (Sunday),” Chan said. “We don’t have any evidence suggesting that.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 7:33 AM.
