Autopsy found ‘no signs of violence’ in body discovered near Waverly, deputy says

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office provided an update Tuesday on the man found dead near Waverly.

On Saturday, a landowner saw a man’s body in the middle of Salt Creek while four-wheeling on his property near 134th Street and Mill Road.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin identified the man as 38-year-old Keath Jones.  He was homeless but had ties to the Waverly area.

The sheriff’s office said Jones was not reported missing, but his family hadn’t seen him for about a month.

“No signs of violence” were found during the autopsy, but the cause of death is still under investigation, according to Houchin.

The sheriff’s office was at the scene for over eight hours during the investigation.

Investigators think Jones may have been sitting by the creek and started a fire.

“If you’re out there in the dark, and you step wrong, you could take a heck of a fall,” Houchin said.  “But again, we don’t have any evidence to say that there was any trauma at all.”

Houchin previously said it’s “highly unlikely” that the man was Tyler Goodrich because of his “physical characteristics.”