Human remains found in WV could be connected to VT student cold case

Area where human remains were found by a work crew under the New River Gorge bridge. Photo courtesy Annie Moore. (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

Justin McLennan, WVVA – FAYETTE COUNTY, W.V. (WVVA) - A work crew under the New River Gorge Bridge discovered skeletal remains while preparing for upcoming bridge repairs on Thursday.

State police and the U.S. Park Service are currently processing the crime scene. Early investigation supports that evidence at the scene indicates the remains could be that of Robert L. Kovack who went missing in September of 1998.

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Kovack was 25-years-old graduate student at Virginia Tech at the time of his disappearance. He was last seen in Blacksburg, Virginia on September 18, 1998.

According to an Associated Press report in August 2012, it is believed that Kovack was heading to a WVU football game in Morgantown in his red Geo Tracker. The vehicle was found five days after he went missing. It was parked and locked near the New River Gorge bridge. Kovack has family in north-central West Virginia.

Sgt. Mike Albert says Blacksburg police were involved in the investigation back in 1998.

He says a positive DNA identification would solve a cold case the department still has in its files.

According to Sergeant K.D. Horrocks of the Oak Hill Detachment the investigation is ongoing.