Missing DC man Ariel Espinal identified as body found in April
A dead body found in Allegany County has been identified as a young father who went missing from D.C. last October, police said Tuesday.
Ariel Espinal, 27, has been identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore. Espinal was reported missing from the Washington, D.C., area on Oct. 8, 2016. Examiners used medical records and X-rays to identify the body because of its decomposition.
People camping near Hoop Pole Road in Little Orleans, Maryland, discovered and reported a clothed, decomposed body in the area on April 21.
Investigators from the Combined County Criminal Investigation, a Maryland state task force, and the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit later located the body approximately 15-20 feet from the road, down an embankment.
A soon-to-be married father of one son, Espinal worked at Annie’s Hardware in Petworth.
Espinal’s family has been pleading for the public to help find him.
“Just bring him home safely and alive,” said Espinal’s fiancee, Irma Flores.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Maryland State Police at the Cumberland barrack at 301-729-2101.