Son digs up dad's grave and finds stranger's body was buried instead

A son who was told his 'missing' dad had died years ago, went on to find out that someone else was buried in his place.

Mark Wells had been searching for the truth behind his dad Dale Wayne Wells’s disappearance back in 1985, but what he found out was a lot more than he bargained for.

Dale went missing when he was just 38, leaving Mark, now 52, to spend the last four decades mourning the loss.

However, in a bid to finally get some clarity after feeling like the authorities couldn’t help him, he decided to hire someone to exhume his father’s remains instead – hoping that new DNA could solve the case of his disappearance and death.

Mark Wells is searching for answers after DNA didn't match his father's (SWNS)

But Mark was left shocked when the DNA came back to say that the man he had buried was not his father at all.

The Californian has since claimed that this is an ‘inexcusable’ mix-up of identities.

From what Mark knew, ‘Dale’s’ body had been found in Colfax, California, a quarter of a mile from his then-wife's house after being missing for eight months.

By that time, the body was apparently the victim of having been taken over by animals – where apparently, Dale had been found with three bullets in his body when Mark’s grandfather found him.

But despite there being thoughts that he may have killed himself, Mark says what people have told him doesn’t line up with this explanation.

Initially, Mark said he decided to take action in 2019 after finding out his dad’s death certificate listed his cause of death as ‘unknown’, but the 2022 DNA results solidified his need for answers.

"I want to know why that person is buried in the ground instead of my father,” said Mark. “Most importantly, I want to know if my father is alive. I don't know if he has passed away - I want answers.”

Revealing that he was ‘mad’ when DNA revealed his dad wasn’t in the grave, he said it has led to the reopening of the missing person’s case back from the 80s.

So far, police have not been able to work out who the man is, but he has hope for the future.

He said he was told it could have been suicide (SWNS)

"I had always been told that my father was killed in a hunting accident," Mark said.

"I told my mom how I saw his death certificate, and I saw that my father's death was unknown. She apologized and said she didn't want to tell me the truth about what happened."

He said: "The night my dad disappeared, he was driving back home to Colfax from Sacramento, where he worked, to see his then wife and my half siblings. I am thinking that he got himself in a really sticky situation. At the scene where the body was found, there were bullets on the ground - showing that a gun had been fired by someone.”

Despite the results from Mitrotyping technologies, a Placer County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said about the results: "The Placer County Coroner’s Office positively identified the remains as those of Dale Wells through dental records. After the identification was confirmed, the remains were released to the next of kin."