Woman Held Brother’s Bones. How He Died Remains a Mystery (Exclusive)

• Lacking since Might 18, 2018, William “Will” Cross’s partial stays have been found in a Kentucky creek in 2023 and recognized final month
• His explanation for dying has but to be decided and an investigation is ongoing  — and regardless that police aren’t posing any theories simply but, his household has their very own suspicions
• “William simply wouldn’t have walked down in there like that and simply laid in a creek and died,” mother Robin Phillips tells PEOPLE

After searching for her missing brother for nearly seven years, Ashley Cross, 38, has closure — but it surely got here with the heavy realization that she’d by no means be capable of see him alive once more.

“It was a rollercoaster by way of the entire thing,” says the mom of three from Oneida, Tenn. “I didn’t understand how a lot hope that I had, and it’s gone now.”

Cross and her mom, Robin Phillips, from Huntsville, have actively looked for William “Will” Cross since Might 18, 2018, the day their then-29-year-old member of the family disappeared.

A troubled man who sometimes labored development jobs, Cross struggled with drug dependancy, particularly methamphetamine, and had been launched from his most up-to-date jail keep solely three days earlier than he went lacking. However that was solely a part of his story.

“He was greater than the dependancy,” says his sister, including she has been advised he purchased groceries for acquaintances, picked up toys for a good friend’s son, gave rides and loaned cash when folks he knew have been in want. 

“He had a great coronary heart,” provides Phillips, 58. “He exuded love.”

In October 2023, the household realized that human stays had been found close to a stream in a wooded space of Revelo, Ky. — lower than three miles from the place he was final seen. However it wasn’t till late March of this yr {that a} Kentucky State Police forensic report decided with practically 100% certainty that the stays belonged to Cross, primarily based on DNA, Phillips says.

Now the large query that continues to be is what precisely occurred?

Setbacks within the Case

As for why it took so lengthy to search out Cross, his household believes jurisdiction confusion performed a job.

Cross, who lived in Scott County, Tenn., was final seen alive on Might 18, 2018, when he was dropped off on Williamsburg Road in Whitley Metropolis, Ky., which is situated in McCreary County.

The household says a joint investigation between the departments by no means occurred, which his sister claims “hindered his case drastically.”

An energetic investigation didn’t happen till Scott County employed Detective David Stephens in 2022, the detective himself tells PEOPLE. He says Sheriff Brian Keeton was elected in his county in 2022 after which employed him to assist examine chilly circumstances and lacking individual circumstances. Proper now, there are seven lacking individual circumstances in Scott County — apart from Will Cross — and three of these went lacking in Kentucky.

“I’m undecided why this one didn’t find yourself in Kentucky initially…after I started working right here in 2022, it seems that we (Scott County) nonetheless had it (the case), regardless that he was final confirmed in Kentucky, and it just about simply went chilly,” Stephens says.

The seasoned detective went to nice lengths to conduct boots on the bottom searches, talk with Cross’s household and conduct interviews, all with approval from his division in addition to the McCreary County Sheriff.

“The way in which regulation enforcement works lacking individuals circumstances, the final place that the topic was seen is the jurisdiction that may cowl the lacking individual case,” explains Stephens. “I really feel like in lacking individual circumstances, there’s at all times room to enhance with the whole lot, and with this, I really feel like positively there must be some issues which might be carried out higher.”

Now that Cross’s stays have been recognized in Kentucky, the case is within the palms of McCreary County officers, in line with native Sheriff David Sampson. Elected in 2022, he says his small crew will start investigating the case immediately, even assembly with the Cross household within the coming week.

“(Scott County) did a very excellent job investigating this,” says Sampson, including that he simply acquired the Cross case recordsdata from Scott County officers. “I believe that we’ve got extra folks that we will interview, in line with the household.”

Doable Leads, however No Official Theories

Ashley and her mother say over the previous six and a half years, they’ve been contacted with attainable leads on quite a few events.

“This isn’t folks that (are) calling me anonymously,” says Ashley, who shares she’s been advised her solely sibling was shot, put right into a wooden chipper, and even tortured, thrown down a nicely and fed to pigs. “As awkward and unreal as it might appear, discovering the stays the place we discovered them was truly a aid in comparison with a wooden chipper or that he was down a nicely and we’d by no means carry him residence.”

McCreary police say they’re starting an investigation and should not posing any theories but. After two and a half years on the case, Scott County’s Stephens says he doesn’t have a concept on how Cross died both.

“I hoped the stays would inform a narrative of what occurred, and the preliminary stays (present in 2023) didn’t,” Stephens says. “However I’m hoping that these stays that have been discovered just lately…hopefully there can be one thing with these that can assist us know just a little bit extra about what occurred to him.”

Nonetheless, the Tennessee detective deeply invested within the case believes there are many results in comply with up on. “I really feel assured that there are most likely a number of folks that know precisely what occurred,” he provides.

For his or her half, the household says they’re not giving up hope that anybody concerned in his dying can be delivered to justice. “William simply wouldn’t have walked down in there like that and simply laid in a creek and died,” says Phillips. “That wouldn’t have occurred.”

Extra Potential Forensic Proof

Over the previous two and a half years, Stephens exhaustively searched the world the place Cross was final seen, protecting roughly 1,721 acres himself, roughly twice the scale of New York’s Central Park. When partial stays have been found by a hiker on Oct. 14, 2023, Stephens and a Georgia search and rescue crew occurred to be down the highway searching for Cross when the decision got here in.

And in late March, when Cross’s stays have been recognized, his sister, mom, and a crew scoured the positioning for 5 days to find more remains. Will’s mom discovered the primary bone; his sister discovered a number of extra.

“I actually held my brother’s bones in my palms,” says Ashley. “It was onerous and it acquired more durable every day.”

Detective Stephens says the stays found in 2023 revealed round 20 bones, and in the course of the latest search, 26 extra items of bone have been unearthed. Forensic investigators will look at the findings for indicators of trauma, damage and a explanation for dying. 

Now that a few of Cross’s stays have been recovered, his household is planning a Celebration of Life occasion in coming weeks. 

For those who or somebody is fighting substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.