Provo teen identified after four decades as missing

A teenager from Provo, Robby Peay, who went missing over 40 years ago has been identified as a body found in Arches National Park. Peay disappeared in October 1982 after running away from a youth treatment center in Salt Lake City at the age of 17. His case became a nationally recognized missing persons case. For decades, there were no leads on Peay's whereabouts. However, recent developments helped detectives identify his remains. A forensic dentist discovered an error in how Peay's dental records were entered into a national database. This mistake led investigators to connect Peay to a body found in February 1983, just months after his disappearance. The body was located in the Three Gossips area of Arches National Park and had a gunshot wound. Although it resembled Peay, decomposition made identification difficult. Initial comparisons of dental records did not match, but they were similar enough to warrant further investigation. Peay's family declared him dead in 1990 after years of uncertainty. His sister, Chris Skowron, mentioned that their mother held onto his financial assets, hoping he would return. After their mother's passing in 2020, Skowron learned about the potential connection to the remains found in Moab. In 2018, the dental record error was corrected, leading to a match of over 90% between Peay's records and those of the unidentified body. However, the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner stated that the youth records could not be used for conclusive identification. Ultimately, a DNA test was necessary to confirm the link. In 2022, tests showed that the remains belonged to Peay. Provo police have shared their findings with Grand County detectives, who are now working on the investigation. Skowron expressed mixed emotions about learning of her brother's identification through the news, rather than from the police. She plans to discuss with her family if they want to move Peay's remains to be buried alongside their parents in Provo.