21 July 2023 , 13:21
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A devastated daughter has spoken out after the remains of her father, who went missing while on a geocaching trip, were found.
Robert Owens Jr, 58, from New Jersey, went missing while on a geocaching trip in Louisiana. Search crews found his vehicle in a remote area off Messina Road, but he was not there.
On the following day, human remains were discovered in a densely wooded area near a creek, and detectives believe they belong to the missing geocacher based on clothing and physical characteristics.
Robert's daughter, Gale Owens, confirmed the remains to be her father's in a TikTok video.
She mentioned that her father had been out of contact since July 9, and the last known location of his phone was in Missouri on July 13, despite his car being found in Louisiana.
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In the TikTok video, Gale expressed her emotions and confirmed that the human remains found were indeed her father's.
She said, "It's just so hard to wrap my head around it." Additionally, in a Facebook post, she shared more details about her father's disappearance, stating that he had not been in contact with anyone since July 9.
Gale also mentioned that her father had travelled from Pennsylvania to Louisiana to geocache some of the "oldest caches" in the area before planning to attend Cachefest in Tennessee.
She further revealed that her father had sent a photo of a geocache in the Alexandria area of Louisiana to her aunt and signed the cache's log in person before the family lost contact with him.
Gale believed that her father's cell phone had died on July 13, as messages stopped showing as delivered and calls did not ring after that date.
Gale expressed her confusion over the last known location of her father's phone, which showed a ping in Missouri on July 13, even though his car was found in Louisiana, and he was not present around it.
She mentioned this as "concerning" and highlighted that she was unsure how his phone could indicate being in Missouri when he was not there.
Another TikTok post by Gale mentioned that her father's rental car was found near the geocache mentioned earlier in Louisiana and had likely been there for about eight days.
The rental was identified as Robert's after they found his geocaching tag in the car window. Gale's messages conveyed her deep sorrow and disbelief at the loss of her father.
After learning about the discovery of her father's body, Gale posted on Facebook, "I genuinely don't even know what to say. It breaks me trying to process this all. You were and still are the best dad you could be. You were more than the best."
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An investigation into the case is ongoing.