Skeletal remains identified as 19-year-old man reported missing a decade ago

NICEVILLE, Fla. (WALA) - Skeletal remains discovered in Miramar Beach in 2022 have been confirmed as Jacob Lyon, a Niceville man who disappeared a little over 10 years ago, authorities said.

Lyon was 19 when his mother reported him missing in February 2016 after not seeing her son for three months. The Niceville Police Department immediately began interviewing Lyon’s family and friends and analyzing his phone.

“Conducted many searches throughout Florida and surrounding states. Some of these searched included cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar. Unfortunately, none of the more than 20 tips ranging from live sightings and location of a body proved to be useful,” said Mark Hayse, Niceville police chief.

The Niceville Police Department continued its investigation for the next decade. In October 2022, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office was called after someone found skeletal remains in a small, wooded lot in Miramar Beach.

The District Medical Examiner’s Office finished its report on the remains in 2024 when they were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Last week, the remains were confirmed to be Lyon.

“This is not by all means the end of an investigation but it’s the furtherance in the start of another investigation. So, we have the death investigation now that’s ongoing to make sure we get some more answers,” said Major Dustin Cosson with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

It’s unclear exactly what led up to Lyon’s death. Investigators with both departments say this gives them a chance to dive deeper and hopefully get some answers.

“If you look at the scene where Jacob was recovered in 2022 it looked completely different than it does today. It was behind a hotel, Sleep Inn and Sleep Inn isn’t even there anymore so what we have to do is go back and look through the multiple pages of report from Niceville Police Department and see if there’s any commonalities maybe to that area or maybe just names of individuals we’ve encountered in the past,” Cosson said.