Cold Case Files: OSBI continues to investigate circumstances surrounding the death of Colten Lane Woods

On the morning of June 30, 2025, a farmer guided his brush hog through tall grass in a field north of Jay, Oklahoma, clearing overgrowth the way rural landowners do when summer growth gets ahead of them. The blades struck something that did not belong in the soil.

He stopped, looked closer, and saw what appeared to be human bones scattered in the cut. He called the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office. Captains Oberg and Bynum arrived, confirmed the remains were human, and notified the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation along with the Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s forensic team.

Officers and agents worked a grid search across the field and recovered most of the remains. The scene was then turned over to OSBI and the state medical examiner. At that moment investigators had only the bones themselves. Sheriff Ray Thomas said the case was open and that there were no clues yet about what they were dealing with.

Eight days later, on July 8, OSBI identified the remains as those of Colten Lane Woods, a 35-year-old man who had been missing from Jay. He had been born on July 18, 1989, in Gravette, Arkansas, to Charlie and Marlene Woods.

According to Delaware County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Josh Bynam (also referenced as Bynum in some reports), Colten Woods had been missing for approximately six months at the time his remains were identified in early July 2025.

The family had filed a missing persons report with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office.

OSBI identified them as belonging to the 35-year-old Woods on or around July 7–8, 2025. Public reporting has not included an exact date for the original missing persons report or details such as the last known sighting or circumstances of his disappearance prior to the report being filed. The case was not widely publicized in news coverage before the remains were found.

The investigation into the cause and manner of death remains active. Officials have directed tips to the OSBI at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017, or the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 253-4531.

Family and friends described him as someone who never met a stranger, a man whose personality and charm stayed with people who knew him. He left behind a brother, a stepdaughter, and a wide circle of relatives in the Jay and Grove area. The sheriff’s office notified the family and said their thoughts were with them.

The medical examiner’s office began the work of determining cause and manner of death. As of the latest public statements, that determination has not been released and the investigation remains active. Officials have asked anyone with information to contact the OSBI tip line at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017.

In the months that followed, the family arranged a celebration of life at Lawson’s Funeral Home in Jay on October 11, 2025, with burial at Duffield Cemetery. The date listed on the obituary for his death is the same day the farmer found the remains. Between the discovery in the field and the identification, local and state investigators pieced together enough to give the bones a name.

What still sits outside public view is how Colten Woods came to be in that field, how long the remains had been there, and whether the circumstances point to accident, natural causes, or something else. In a county where older unsolved cases have sometimes closed only after decades of quiet work and new tips, this one is still early.

The grid search recovered most of what was left. The medical examiner continues the examination. The tip line stays open. For the people who knew Colten Woods, the name is restored.

The rest of the story is still being written by the investigation.