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Sunday, November 5, 2000
DNA tests identify remains
Results match 2 of 3 missing Austin men
By Jason Ma
Caller-Times
PORT ARANSAS - DNA tests have identified two of three Austin men declared missing in September when they did not return from a fishing trip.
Constable Robert Sherwood announced Saturday that bones found on Mustang Island and in Kleberg County were those of Danny Gonzales, 35, and Larry Cardenas, 47.
The third man, Modesto Robles Jr., 43, is still missing.
The three men hadn't been seen since Sept. 8, when they departed Matagorda Bay for a deep-sea fishing trip.
The Coast Guard launched a four-day search for the men Sept. 11 that covered 35,000 miles.
The search was called off Sept. 14 after the Coast Guard found no traces of the men except for two coolers, one of which was tied to a shoe.
On Sept. 18, the bones of a leg that included a femur severed a few inches above the kneecap was found on the beach at Mustang Island.
And on Sept. 22, a passerby discovered a skeleton in Kleberg County a few miles south of the Nueces County line.
Sherwood said the two sets of bones are from separate people, but did not know which ones belonged to whom.
A lab in Fort Worth extracted DNA from the bones and found that it matched DNA taken from Gonzales' and Cardenas' parents, Sherwood said.
Texas Rangers in the Austin area notified the men's families of the positive identification on Friday.
Sherwood said the Nueces County Medical Examiner will try to determine the cause of death and look for any evidence of foul play.
Meantime, "We're still looking. We're still watching the beach," Sherwood said.
He noted that nothing else connected to the fishing trip has been found, such as debris from the boat the men were on.
"It's been two months and we haven't found anything else," he said. "It's strange that we've not found any parts of the boat.
"But the water's pretty unforgiving."
Staff writer Jason Ma can be reached at _886-3778 or by e-mail at maj@caller.com
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