Man vanished years ago while going to the movies, NC cops say. Now remains identified

Devante Lawrence went to the movies in 2018 and vanished, North Carolina cops said.

Skeletal remains found in the woods have now been identified as his.

The Fayetteville Police Department received a call Oct. 16 about the discovery of remains in a wooded area. At the scene, officers found that the remains had been there for an “extended amount of time,” police said in the Oct. 16 news release.

A family member dropped off 24-year-old Lawrence at a movie theater in April 2018, and he hadn’t been heard from since, according to Fayetteville police. The remains were located only a few blocks away from where he was last seen.

The remains were sent to the Raleigh Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death as the Fayetteville Police Department’s Homicide Unit investigated.

On Nov. 10, police shared the identification of the remains and said the medical examiner determined homicide did not seem to be the cause of Lawrence’s death.

Police have not said how he died.

Fayetteville is about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Man vanished years ago while going to the movies, NC cops say. Now remains identified."