‘He loved the wilderness’: Family remembers man found dead in Salt Creek

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — When they learned that a body was found in Salt Creek near Waverly, the family of 38-year-old Keath Jones knew almost immediately that it was him.

They said he spent a lot of time there.

When his mother saw the news, she told her daughter that she had a feeling it was him.

“At the time they didn’t know who it was, but they said they had found the body and where it was, and she knew it was him,” said Allene Murphy, Jones’ sister. “That crushes any mother’s heart.” 

A landowner saw Jones’ body in the middle of the creek on March 9 while four-wheeling on his property near 134th Street and Mill Road.  

Three days later, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it was Jones.

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Murphy said he was her kids’ favorite uncle.

“The only thing about Keath is he didn’t have a lot to give, but he was the first person that if he did have something, he would give it to you,” she said. 

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

“He loved the wilderness, probably more than most people did,” Murphy said. “Which explains why he was where he was, ’cause that’s where he was most comfortable.” 

The family set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for the funeral expenses.

Murphy said Jones didn’t have any assets, but they want to give him the service he deserves.