Remains positively identified as missing Harlan Co. man

LEJUNIOR, Ky. (WTVQ) – Kentucky State Police have announced that remains discovered in Harlan County last year are that of a man believed to have been murdered.

Investigators say a skull found off Philpot Lane in the Shields community belonged to 58-year-old Hershel Starrett.

Starrett was reported missing back in December of 2016.

A Harlan County grand jury indicted Starrett’s wife, Melissa Starrett, and his cousin, James Starrett, with attempted complicity to commit murder in connection to his disappearance in 2017.