Partial Human Remains Identified as Dad of 2 Who Disappeared Under 'Mysterious Circumstances' a Decade Ago

Partial human remains discovered over the summer have now been identified as a Pennsylvania man who had been missing for 10 years. 

In July, a group of people in Walker Township came across the remains while riding ATVs, the Pennsylvania State Police told PEOPLE in an email. They contacted police, who later recovered the remains.

“As a result of laboratory analysis, the remains were positively identified as belonging to Jesse Lee Farber who was listed as a missing person from Tamaqua since 2015,” state police wrote, adding that his family members had been notified.

Authorities noted that additional searches of the area uncovered more remains and that their investigation is ongoing.

Rachel Carroll, the mother of Farber’s children and his girlfriend at the time, also shared the news in a message on the Facebook group page “Find Jesse Farber,” the Times News reported.

“A few weeks ago, while searching for Jesse with a group of dedicated volunteers, we discovered several bones. Law enforcement was immediately notified, and the coroner later confirmed the remains were human,” Carroll wrote. “We have since learned that a few additional bones had been found in the same area a couple of months earlier. Together, these partial remains have been positively identified as Jesse.”

In an interview with NewsNation, Carroll said the last time she saw Farber in person was on Aug. 8, 2015.

“He said to me he had to do something on his own and basically, when he dealt with that, that everything would be okay and he’d come back home and we’d be back together again,” Carroll recalled. “Which made me worry even more because it seemed like there was definitely something going on.”

Carroll spoke with him on the phone three days later, the night he vanished.

“He was really scared, and as the phone call went on, he got worse and more terrified. He told me to bring guns, and he was in a tree with 10-11 coyotes after him,” she said during an interview over the summer with local station WOLF.

“I didn’t hear any animal noises, and it was very quiet in the background. It didn’t sound like he was running or even in the woods,” she added. “You couldn’t hear the wind, or bugs or leaves brushing.”

“He described being on two separate mountains before the call dropped,” according to a message on a GoFundMe created to help cover search expenses after he disappeared “under mysterious circumstances.”

“He was never heard from again,” the message continued

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) said that Farber wore a black hoodie and a backpack containing boots and work clothes at the time of his disappearance. 

Over on the Facebook page dedicated to finding Farber, Carroll said that while she’s grateful for the closure, “it’s also heartbreaking to let go of that small hope that he might still return to us someday.”

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A celebration of life is being planned but details have yet to be announced. PEOPLE contacted Carroll on Friday, Oct. 31, for comment.