12 Years Later: Missing Hugo Mans Remains Identified

HUGO, Okla. – The remains of John Lafayette Mangrum have been positively identified after he went missing from Hugo, Okla., in March 2008. The remains were discovered in August 2018 in a remote area in northern Pushmataha County. At that time the Pushmataha County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) in identifying the remains.

On March 30, 2008, a missing person report regarding Mangrum’s (who was 67 at the time) disappearance was filed with Hugo Police Department. At that time, DNA from Mangrum’s immediate family was collected and submitted to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

After the human remains were discovered in Pushmataha County in 2018, OSBI agents, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner Forensic Anthropologist and local fire department volunteers conducted a thorough search of the area and collected numerous items of evidence. In an attempt to identify the remains, that evidence was submitted to the University of North Texas Health Science Center to run through the NamUs database and possibly get a DNA match.

Recently, the University of North Texas Health Science Center notified the OSBI that the remains located in northern Pushmataha County were those of Mangrum.

Mangrum’s death is suspicious and the OSBI is asking anyone with information regarding his disappearance or death to contact the OSBI at (800) 522-8017 or [email protected]. You can remain anonymous.