GRANT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) State police say they have confirmed that the human remains found earlier this week near Rothbury are those of Kevin Graves, the man who vanished during the Electric Forest music festival in 2018.

Forensic anthropologists from the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.S. School of Medicine used dental records to make the positive identification Thursday morning, according to the Michigan State Police.

News 8 spoke with his sister Kellie Graves on Thursday, who said she is still trying to wrap her head around the news.

“I don’t know how to feel now,” she said. “The closure feels good but, you know, that hope we had that he might turn up one day is gone and it’s very sad and my parents are really struggling. There was that hope and when I had gotten the news I had forgotten my dad said ‘remains’ for a second and I thought that he was just found somewhere up in Northern Michigan.”

State police say they have not yet determined the cause of death, but there are “no indications of foul play at this time.”

The remains were found in a “wooded area” near the Double JJ Ranch northwest of Rothbury on Monday, state police said. Kellie Graves told News 8 Thursday morning that his wallet and phone were also found nearby, leaving her with more questions than answers.

“It was 100 yards from his campsite and hunters found human remains, I think his clothes were still there and they found his wallet and cell phone as well … My question is where was this six years ago when we said he didn’t just run away? I mean they could have pulled phone records they could’ve pinged his phone. We would not have had to wait 6.5 years for this and it’s really frustrating,” she said.  

Kevin Graves, of Oakland County, was last seen July 1, 2018, at the popular Electric Forest music festival in Grant Township. Volunteers searched the festival grounds later that month and found no trace of him. In 2019, his family handed out missing persons flyers at Electric Forest. In 2023, they helped put up a billboard bearing Kevin Graves’ face near the festival entrance.

Kellie Graves said she wants the public to know he is more than the billboards, and wants him to be remembered for his positive spirit and personality.

“He was pretty happy-go-lucky, he was just extremely sweet, well-mannered… He had the biggest heart,” she said. “I just want them to remember him for his kind spirit and his smile, I am going to miss his smile.”

“Please keep the family and friends of Kevin Graves in your thoughts during this difficult time,” state police wrote Thursday in a release.