Jeremy Ervin

The remains found in a burned-out community center in Farmington, Ill., have been identified as belonging to missing West Lafayette artist Emmanuel Cervantes, his sister, Cynthia Vinasco, confirmed Monday.

The family held a memorial service for Cervantes, 35, on Saturday. Shortly before the service began, the family received a call from Fulton County (Ill.) confirming that a positive identification had been made using dental records; DNA test results were inconclusive.

Vinasco noted that Cervantes’ front teeth had “prominent” characteristics.

“When (the coroner) told me about those, we knew it was him,” she said.

The coroner has scheduled a Tuesday announcement about the case.

Authorities had suspected the remains were those of Cervantes shortly after they were discovered in late May, because identification was found in a wallet on the body.

However, the final identification doesn’t answer questions Cervantes’ family still has.

“He mysteriously ended up in the middle of nowhere Illinois,” said Vinasco. “Part of the confusion and the sadness is that we do not understand.”

Cervantes’ co-workers reported that he left a work site in Chillicothe, Ill., around May 14. Family members said their last contact with Cervantes was on May 12.

The family first learned that Cervantes was missing on May 29. Following the filing of a missing person’s report in West Lafayette, Cervantes’ stepfather, Randall Venis, headed to Chillicothe to search for Cervantes, who was an avid bicyclist. On May 30, he received a call from the Fulton County coroner raising the first suspicions that the remains in Farmington might have been Cervantes.

“We have questions as to how he wound up there,” said Venis.

Vinasco said she cannot recall a connection between Cervantes and the town.

“I don’t remember him talking about Farmington, ever, in any conversation,” she said. “It’s hard for us to believe he was alone.”

Investigation revealed some evidence of breaking and entering at the site of the fire. Venis said that breaking and entering would be “very uncharacteristic” of Cervantes.

The autopsy concluded that Cervantes had died from carbon monoxide inhalation, Vinasco said. She added said that the family is holding off on cremating the remains while they decide whether to have another autopsy performed.