Santa Barbara Missing Person Identified in 20 Year Old Case

[UPDATE- 4:50 p.m] – NewsChannel 3 and KCOY Central Coast News have confirmed the name of the 17-year-old that went missing in 1995 to be Cengiz Han Nuray.

Details acquired from the Charley Project official website regarding this case state that Nuray disappeared from Santa Cruz on April 27, 1995. Nuray was following The Grateful Dead rock band with a group of friends during that spring. He was last seen at Greyhound Rock Beach in Santa Cruz. Nuray allegedly told his friends he was going for a walk and left his belongings on the beach but was never seen again.

The Charley Project profiles over 9,000 cold case missing people.

[Original story] The remains of a 17-year-old man whose mother reported missing in Santa Barbara in 1995 has finally been identified by the Pacific Grove Police Department. Investigators there have not yet released the name of the deceased citing his age at the time of death.

Pacific Grove police, in conjunction with the Monterey County Coroner’s Office, resubmitted DNA recovered from the remains in 1995. A DNA match was made and linked to a missing person’s report filed by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

In 1995, a partial body was found floating in the water at Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove, CA. Due to the body being badly decomposed, investigators were unable to identify the person and a standard report was filed with information being disseminated to try and connect the remains to a missing person, all with no luck.

NewsChannel 3 and KCOY Central Coast News has reached out to the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office and they say the teen was considered a voluntary missing person and no foul play was suspected.

After 20 years, the family will finally have closure and the 17-year-old will be laid to rest.