Police Identify Remains Of Texas Man Missing Since March 2021

Authorities turned the missing case of a 22-year-old Texas man, who was last seen in March 2021, into a murder investigation after his remains were identified, Schertz Police Department said Tuesday.

The human remains were first discovered by a San Antonio couple on Sept. 10 while they were exploring certain sections of Comal County in Texas, The Seguin Gazette reported. They alerted the Comal County Sheriff's Office afterward.

The pair found the remains in a heavily wooded area in the 33500 block of Stahl Lane in Comal County, public information officer Jennifer Smith said, as per the outlet.

"There's a couple of old cemeteries in that area and they were looking for them," Smith said. "While they were looking for the cemeteries, she located the possible human remains."

Schertz PD detectives worked with Comal County Sheriff's Department to expedite the identification of the remains, according to a news release. It was later discovered that the human remains belonged to Jacob Dubois, who had been missing since March 7, 2021.

"Detectives were recently notified that the remains recovered were identified as those belonging to Jacob Dubois, a missing person out of Schertz since March of 2021," the police department said in the news release.

Before he went missing, Dubois told his girlfriend that he was meeting his friend Ethan Beckman to drive around as usual, San Antonio Express-News reported.

During the investigation into Dubois' disappearance, the police reportedly interviewed several witnesses, including Beckman, and also searched his vehicle. Although they found that the car had already been cleaned using a power washer, they were able to find blood on its passenger seat alongside other evidence.

"On March 11, 2021, detectives were able to seize Ethan's vehicle and upon initial inspection, it appeared as though someone had attempted to clean the inside to the point where the floorboard was soaked with water," police said in a press conference, according to The Seguin Gazette. "During the search, the presence of blood was also discovered on and around the passenger seat."

After gathering relevant evidence, police arrested Beckman on March 29, 2021, on charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair, which is a third-degree felony. He was put in jail on an $850,000 bond.

"The investigation into the murder charges is ongoing and Detectives continue to work collaboratively with our state and federal partners to gather additional information to bring resolution to the case," Schertz PD further said in its news release.