Following dental record inspections, the body found in rural Ellsworth County has been confirmed to be that of 44-year-old Nathan Thompson who has been missing since early June. The missing persons case has now been reclassified as a homicide. On Tuesday, the Ellsworth Co. Sheriff’s Office was called to a rural area of the county with reports of a body found in a field. SPD noted that the human remains were located and found to be in an extreme state of decomposition. On Thursday, SPD said an autopsy was performed and the medical examiner had found the death to be the result of a homicide. Thompson had been reported missing since early June after the Salina Fire Department responded to a trailer fire at 1635 Elgin Dr. Once the fire was extinguished, firefighters said they found no one had been home at the time of the fire and had classified the blaze as arson. Later in the investigation police indicated that a Chevrolet Express van had possibly been used in Thompson’s disappearance and that the van is now in its possession.
