Remains found near Michigan music fest site confirmed to be fan missing since 2018

ROTHBURY—The disappearance of a Detroit-area man from a 2018 music festival has been solved with the discovery of human remains in northern Michigan, authorities said Thursday.

Remains found by hunters this week near the site of the annual Electric Forest Festival have been identified as Kevin Graves, state police said.

The cause of death was not known, but there were no indications of foul play, police said.

“At least the family has some closure on where he is and now hopefully the next steps can determine what happened,” Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.

Graves, 28, was last seen at Electric Forest in 2018. After some tension with a girlfriend, he said he was returning to his tent, according to investigators, but was never seen again.

Police had searched with dogs and dozens of volunteers, while divers checked area lakes. In 2023, a billboard with Graves’ picture urged festival visitors to call police with any tips.

The area is in Oceana County, but the missing person report was filed in Oakland County, where Graves lived.

Graves’ father, Gary Graves, said police visited his home Monday when the discovery was made.

“With the dogs and everything they claim they had running around there looking, I can’t see how we missed him,” Graves, 80, told MLive.com. “But I can’t say for sure until I know exactly where it was at.”