Remains of missing Lewistown man identified

Shane Workman’s body found 9 years after disappearance

LEWISTOWN -- Human remains discovered in the Susquehanna River nearly five years ago have been identified as those of Shane Allen Workman, a Lewistown man who had been missing since 2017.

The Lewistown Police Department announced Tuesday that DNA testing confirmed the remains, discovered July 25, 2021, in Conoy Township, Lancaster County, belonged to Workman.

While the identification answers where Workman was found, police said the circumstances surrounding his death remain unknown.

"This case is still an active and ongoing investigation," police said in a news release.

The skeletal remains were discovered by a duck hunter on a small outcropping of land north of Ely Island while checking hunting blinds along the Susquehanna River.

Investigators recovered two femurs, a tibia and several personal items, including remnants of pants, a belt, a butane lighter and a pocketknife.

An anthropologist from Elizabethtown College determined the remains belonged to a male. The Lancaster County Coroner's Office entered the case into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, known as NamUs.

Initial DNA testing proved inconclusive, and another comparison ruled out a suspected identity.

The investigation later expanded to include the DNA Doe Project, which worked with several forensic laboratories to obtain a viable DNA sample from one of the bones.

At the same time, Lewistown Police Detective Mary Woods continued investigating Workman's disappearance and maintained an active missing-person case through NamUs.

In April, Woods began working with the Lancaster County Coroner's Office and Pennsylvania State Police after a potential match surfaced through the NamUs database. She later obtained a DNA sample from Workman's mother, Cindy Workman.

On July 23, the Lancaster County Coroner's Office received results showing a 99.9998% statistical likelihood that the unidentified remains belonged to the child of the woman who submitted the DNA sample.

Woods and Lancaster County Coroner investigators met with Workman's family Tuesday to notify them of the identification.

Police said investigators continue to pursue leads based on Workman's cellphone records and evidence recovered with the remains.

Although identifying the remains provides some answers for the family, investigators said they are still trying to determine how Workman died.

Police are asking anyone with information about Workman's disappearance or death to contact Detective Mary Woods at (717) 248-6716, ext. 427.

Lewistown police credited the Lancaster County Coroner's Office, the DNA Doe Project, Bode Technology Group, Tetracore Inc. and NamUs for their roles in identifying the remains.