AKRON, Ohio — After almost a year of searching for her 22-year-old son, Xavier Menefee, Trina Koon received a devastating update from the Summit County Medical Examiner's office.
"I got a call from the Summit County Medical Examiner saying that they had found skeletal remains and they were pretty sure it was my son."
Police said the remains were discovered May 2 around 5 p.m. near a homeless encampment in a wooded area by Silver Street.
RELATED: 2 arrested after human remains found in fire pit near homeless encampment in Akron
"I didn't even get to say goodbye," Koon said.
As she navigates her grief, Koon will remember her son in many ways.
She said Menefee made a lasting impression and loved art, music and animals.
"He was smart and he was a hard worker," she said, "He walked into a room and he didn't demand attention, but you couldn't not notice him."
As Koon tries to focus on the way her son lived, she forced to wonder how he died. The Akron Police Department is investigating his death.
"I don't want anyone to remember him as just a news story," Koon said.
Last Friday, Akron officers responded to a fight between two men at a homeless encampment off Silver Street.
There, officers found a skull in a trash bag and some burned bones in a fire pit, which turned out to be Menefee, who had been missing for 10 months.
Police told News 5 the men tampered with the remains and have since been charged with abuse of a corpse.
"It's abuse of a whole family. He's not just a corpse. He was a person," said Koon.
Koon said Menefee struggled with mental health issues, specifically depression, as a child and young man.
Last July, family members filed a police report with Akron PD, noting "mental health and drug problems," and due to " his suicidal written notes," police labeled him a "high-risk missing adult."
Koon kept searching for her son, but she questioned whether investigators did enough to follow up on his disappearance.
"I would call and ask them, 'What are you doing?' And they'd say, 'Well, we're going to go kick the bushes.' What does that mean? Where are you looking? What are you doing?" Koon explained.
But Lt. Michael Murphy said police did not give up looking for Menefee.
"We checked social media, we subpoenaed records for cell phone records and conducted additional interviews months after his initial disappearance," Murphy said.
Police said they are not sure how Menefee died— and it's possible they may never know.
"Because those men stole my answers," Koon said.
Koon is now calling for a through investigation to get answers and justice for her and her family, as well as something else.
"Anyone struggling with mental illness, please get help," she said.
Koon said she has been in contact with the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office about getting her son's remains back, and is planning a celebration of life for Menefee in June.
