Porter County officials confirmed Wednesday that the remains found over the weekend in Lake Eliza were Zachariah “Wayne” Lee, who disappeared from his Porter Township home in November 2019.

Lee was identified through dental records.

Lee, 86, disappeared from his home in the area of County Roads 100 South and 600 West early the morning of Nov. 9, 2019. Family members said at the time that Lee had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about eight years before that.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, community members and Lee’s family fanned out to look for him at the time, despite dropping temperatures and snow.

Son Tony Lee, who lives in Moberly, Missouri, but was visiting his parents at the time of his father’s disappearance, said then his dad and mom, Loretta, had lived in their home since 1964. His father was a Korean War veteran.

Tony Lee has said that he and his family were “just overwhelmed with the compassion” as the community came together to find his father.

The Porter County Sheriff’s Department was called to Lake Eliza in the area of County Road 600 West south of Division Road around 1:32 p.m. Saturday, where the deceased male was located. The Porter County coroner’s office was dispatched to the scene around 2:09 p.m. regarding human remains found in the lake.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources assisted with the investigation.

“Please keep the family and friends of Zachariah in your thoughts and prayers during this time,” Cpl. Ben McFalls, public information officer with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department, said in a release.

Additionally, Charles Stephan, 92, of the 3500 block of Bob White Circle in Center Township, who was reported missing by the sheriff’s department Tuesday, was found deceased in his home Wednesday, according to the coroner’s office.

The coroner’s office was called to his residence at 9:14 a.m. “He was found in his home, there are no suspicious circumstances and it appears the decedent died of natural causes,” Coroner Cyndi Dykes said in a release.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.