UPDATE, JUNE 18: The remains were confirmed as belonging to Jessica Paige Kemp. See new story.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Skeletal remains were found Tuesday near a northeast Arkansas lake where a woman was reported missing after camping alone last month, authorities say.
Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder said a detective and a civilian search party made the discovery around 1:45 p.m. in an area southwest of Lake Ashbaugh.
Snyder said they encountered a strong smell of decomposition before finding the remains in “a very advanced state of decomposition.”
The remains, which have not been identified, will be sent by the county coroner to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for positive identification, Snyder said.
Jessica Paige Kemp, 32, a Paragould resident originally from Munford, Tennessee, was last seen alive on May 5, camping alone in roughly the same area near Lake Ashbaugh, her family said.
“Somebody may have taken her at this time, we just don’t know. I just want her found alive and I want her to come home,” said Sandy Kemp, mother told WREG last month.
Police found Kemp’s abandoned car, and inside the car were her purse with items scattered. Her phone was recovered, but there was no sign of Kemp.
Lake Ashbaugh is about 115 miles northwest of Memphis. WREG reached out to Jessica Kemp’s family but was unable to get a statement.
Greene County Sheriff Brad Snyder said no further information will be released until further investigation is learned from the crime lab.