Remains found identified as missing woman

TEXARKANA – Authorities have discovered a DNA match for a person who has been missing since January of last year, nearly eight months after human remains were discovered in a Texarkana creek bed.

Amber French, 43, is the identified victim discovered near Waggoner Creek in August 2025, according to a statement released by the Texarkana Police Department on Monday. Our news partners at KETK report that the remains, which were thought to be bones, were initially discovered on August 1, 2025, by someone strolling along a creek bed. The police department verified that they were human and that began an investigation.

More bones were discovered when Texarkana detectives, Texas Game and Fish officers, and a K-9 unit were dispatched to the scene. Officials could only conclude at the time that the body had decayed because the bones were old enough. After that, a medical examiner in Dallas received the bones. According to the police department, DNA revealed that they belonged to French, who was reported missing in May 2025 after her family had not heard from her since January. PIO Shawn Vaughn of the Texarkana Police Department told KETK News on Monday that while foul play is “not necessarily suspected,” it is also not ruled out. The investigation is still ongoing.