FAIRFIELD COUNTY, SC — Human remains found off a logging road in Fairfield County could close a two-year-old missing persons case.

A timber company crew last Saturday found skeletal remains and clothing about a mile off Hope Road near I-77, according to Capt. Brad Douglas of the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office.

That’s three to four miles from where authorities found the wrecked, burned Volkswagen owned by William Ira Pound Jr. of Batesburg-Leesville on Nov. 30, 2010. Pound’s family reported him missing about a week later, but it took two months for authorities to link the wrecked car and the missing man.

Several searches in early 2011 turned up nothing and left the family wondering what had happened to Pound.

DNA tests still must be done to identify the skeletal remains, but the clothing is consistent with what Pound was last seen wearing, Douglas said.

-- Joey Holleman