MILLARD COUNTY, Utah — The body of a man reported missing since April 18 has been found in a hiking area in the west Utah desert.

According to the Millard County Sheriff's Office, the body of Jonathan Barratt Brantley, 22, of Longview, Texas, was positively identified after being discovered in the Notch Peak area on Thursday.

The cause of his death has not yet been determined.

Brantley had been missing since his car was discovered abandoned at Notch Peak and Tule Valley in the West Desert. His cellphone, according to deputies, was left inside the vehicle at the time.

“Our deepest condolences go out to Jonathan’s family and friends during this extremely difficult time," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "We express gratitude to all who put forth efforts in the search for Jonathan including those who spread the news of his search via social media.”

This story was first reported by Jack Helean at KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah.

HOUSTON —

The case of a Texas man who was reported missing as a teenager in 2015 and found alive last week at a church took an unexpected turn Thursday when police revealed it all was a hoax — the man was only gone for a day, but he and his mother maintained the ruse for eight years by using false names.

Prosecutors did not file any charges against Janie Santana and her son, Rudolph "Rudy" Farias IV, but the investigation is continuing, Houston police detectives said. They gave a few other details about where they believe the case could lead.

Santana's family said they suspected Farias was not missing and blamed Santana for keeping him away from them all these years.

"We're upset that (authorities) are not going to do anything," Pauline Sanchez Rodriguez, Farias' aunt, said as she and other family members stood outside Houston police headquarters.

Santana did not return a telephone call seeking comment Thursday.

The announcement came a week after police said they found Farias after receiving a call about a person lying on the ground in front of a southeast Houston church.

Authorities had not previously said where Farias spent the past eight years since he was reported missing as a 17-year-old who took his two dogs for a walk near his family's home in northeast Houston and never came back. Now 25, he was hospitalized after police found him last week, and detectives interviewed him and his mother on Wednesday.

Investigators concluded Farias returned home the day after he was reported missing but "the mother, Janie, continued to deceive police by remaining adamant that Rudy was still missing," Lt. Christopher Zamora said during a news conference.

During the past eight years, Farias and his mother had various interactions with officers, police said.

"During these contacts, fictitious names and date of births were given — misleading the officers — and Rudy would remain missing," Zamora said.

After Farias was reported missing, Houston police and Texas Equusearch, a civilian search and recovery team, looked for him without success, although his dogs were later found.

In the years following, there were several possible sightings of Farias, according to a private investigator hired by Santana a few months after he went missing. They included one sighting in 2018 that police responded to, but the investigation remained open as a missing person case.

Rodriguez said her late mother, Rosa Sosa Rodriguez, had been living with Santana and kept telling relatives that Farias was living in the house with them.

"My mom would always tell me, 'Rudy is here ... He's there. He's in that room,'" Rodriguez said. "And Janie said, 'No she's lying, she's losing it.'"

Zamora said Santana claimed the person friends and family were seeing was not Farias but her nephew, but "we disputed that."

Rodriguez and other family members also accused Santana of not presenting an accurate picture of herself to people and of not caring about family members.

Court records show Santana has used at least three different names and was accused of mistreating her mother while they lived together. During a 2020 dispute over her mother's guardianship, Santana's sisters accused her of forcing their mother to live in a home that had "animal urine and feces throughout" and causing her to have "significant bed sores" because she "did not have a bed and slept on the couch."

In a 2011 affidavit filed in a court case in which Santana's marriage was declared "null and void" because a judge concluded she was married to another man at the time, Rodriguez said her sister "has always been a pathological liar. She lies about everything."

Rodriguez said she and other family members have yet to speak with Farias and they remain worried about him.

"I just want him safe," said Sylvia Sanchez Lopez, another aunt of Farias.

But Zamora, with the police department's Missing Persons Unit, said Farias was safe and he had decided to stay "with his mother by choice."

Police Chief Troy Finner said when Farias was reported missing, he was 17 years old, which is considered an adult in Texas. Now in his twenties, Farias is "a grown man," he said.

After police announced that Farias had been found, Santana released a statement saying, he "is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us." She also asked for privacy.

Finner declined Thursday to answer questions about the mental health of Farias or his mother and would not say what might have motivated their actions. He said police are "right at the beginning" of their investigation into what happened.

Police also said patrol officers responded to a burglary call Wednesday night at the family's home and that it is now part of their investigation.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Authorities in South Carolina say a Belk Department Store employee died in the store's public bathroom, but her body wasn't discovered for four days.

According to Columbia Police, the Associated Press and CBS affiliate WLTX reported that the store's janitor Bessie Durham was last seen Thursday at work.

On Monday, Durham's body was found by another store employee in a bathroom stall around 8 p.m., the Lexington County Coroner's Office told WLTX.

Deputy Police Chief Melron Kelly told WIS-TV her cleaning cart was sitting out of the bathroom.

The news outlets reported that Durham's body was found shortly after her family reported her missing.

According to the news outlets, foul play is not suspected.

WLTX reported an autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Kelly said the store was open during normal business hours those four days, so police will investigate if anyone was negligent, the news outlets reported.

“We’re still working with the store to find out what their process is to closing down the store, inspecting the store and things of that nature,” Kelly told the news station.

COLLEGE CORNER, Ohio —

Human remains found in Hueston Woods are believed to be those of a man missing for more than two years.

Michael McKenney, 28, was last seen May 23, 2020. Investigators said there are strong indicators he has now been found.

“I'm totally not quitting until he's positively identified,” said McKenney’s mother Yolanda Middleton. “I'm a fighter. I'm not a quitter and I'm not going to quit until I know for certain, but everything points to that it is him.”

Texas Equisearch, Christian Aid Ministries and other volunteers have continued searching and Wednesday they made the discovery in a remote part of Hueston Woods.

“It's almost like you're going through the whole process over again, to be honest, from day one,” Middleton said. “I didn't know if we'd ever, ever come to this day.”

The family said there were some of McKenney’s personal effects found with the remains and some specific physical characteristics were the same.

“There were some things definitely strongly suggesting that it was him,” said Fairfield Township Police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey.

McCroskey said the cause of death could come with the coroner’s report, but so much time has passed, it could also be undetermined.

The case is in such early stages police cannot yet rule out foul play, however, there are no obvious indicators that anyone else was involved.

“I will say that we're not looking for anybody right now. We're not looking for any suspects at this point,” McCroskey said.

The identity will be confirmed by DNA. That could take weeks or even months to get back.

Eating cassava flour helped save the lives of four children found alive in the Amazon jungle more than a month after their plane crashed, according to a Colombian military special forces official.

The children ate “three kilograms (six pounds) of farina,” a coarse cassava flour commonly used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon region, said spokesperson Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez.

“Days after the crash, they ate the farina which they had carried there… but they (eventually) ran out of food and decided to look for a place where they could stay alive,” Suárez said.

“They were malnourished but fully conscious and lucid when we found them,” he added.

“Their indigenous origins allowed them to acquire a certain immunity against diseases in the jungle and having knowledge of the jungle itself – knowing what to eat and what not to eat – as well as finding water kept them alive – which would not have been possible (if they) were not used to that type of hostile environment.”

The four children – 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 9-year-old Soleiny Jacobombaire Mucutuy, 4-year-old Tien Ranoque Mucutuy and infant Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy – are currently recovering in a hospital in the Colombian capital Bogota after being taken there by air ambulance flown by the Colombian Air Force on Saturday, officials said.

Medical reports say they are dehydrated and still “cannot eat food” – but are well and out of danger. “What’s required now is to stabilize (their health),” Colombian Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez told reporters who were gathered outside the hospital.

The children’s mother Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia was killed in the plane crash on May 1, leaving them alone and stranded in the Amazon jungle. The plane’s pilot Hernando Murcia Morales and Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández were also killed in the accident.

The children’s disappearance sparked a massive military-led search operation that saw more than one hundred Colombian special forces troops and over 70 indigenous scouts combing the deep forest.

The four were eventually found in an area clear of trees.

They told officials that they had found a dog – a Belgian Shepherd search dog named Wilson that belonged to special forces. The dog had gone missing on May 18, Suárez said. “The kids told us that they spent three or four days with Wilson and that they (found) him quite skinny,” he added.

Hopes for the children’s survival waned as the weeks went on.

Their relatives shared that they endured “many sleepless nights worrying” until the children were found.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who visited the children in the hospital on Saturday, celebrated their return and said their survival “would be remembered in history.”

“They are children of the jungle and now they are children of Colombia,” Petro said.

A young couple from Colorado rescued a dog named Cabo from a dog hoarder earlier this year.

“He's a very sweet loving dog,” his owner Cameron Donner said. “He's just more open with animals, dogs, cats, just given his background and nature.”

Cameron decided to bring Cabo along on a road trip to New Mexico to visit his girlfriend’s family ahead of Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. When they arrived, Cabo seemed right at home playing with the other family dogs, when suddenly he bolted out the garage door.

Just like that – he was gone. After searching for hours, Cameron took to social media and finally got a tip that Cabo was seen at a nearby park. Cameron, his girlfriend Taryn and their family were out there searching well into the evening, but nothing.

This pattern continued in the days to come. Members of the community started to join in. They all searched high and low, for eight hours each day, often covering 20 miles of ground. But still, no Cabo.

"I wouldn't give up," Cameron said. "There's no way that anything was gonna stop me from finding him."

Then, after 10 long days of pounding the pavement, Cameron got a Cabo sighting. The crew sprinted to the given location and finally, he saw his pup.

"Cabo was just standing there completely covered in mud color – he just looked like almost a different dog," said Cameron.

With some chicken in hand, Cameron gets down on his knees and Cabo slowly zigzags towards him.

"It was absolutely surreal," Cameron explains.

He was blown away, not only that Cabo had made it, but also by the support of the Albuquerque community.

"Everyone was absolutely phenomenal," added Cameron. "I really can't thank everybody enough for just all their help and support."

More good news: after his 10-day excursion, Cabo got a clean bill of health from the veterinarian.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. —

A treasure hunter on Tybee Island, Georgia, helped a woman find her lost engagement ring on Sunday.

According to Tybee Island lifeguards, a woman was packing up her stuff for the day when she realized her engagement ring was missing.

In a Facebook post, Tybee Island lifeguards explained that a friend of the woman flagged down a lifeguard who was patrolling the area and explained the situation.

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Guards throughout the beach were asked if they could see anyone using a metal detector.

According to the social media post, lifeguard Taylor Davis found a regular treasure hunter, Brian Harper, near the pier and brought him to the area of the missing ring.

Related video: Couple reunited with engagement ring lost in snow

After less than 10 seconds of searching with his metal detector, Harper found the ring.