Cold Case Files: The discovery of Dennis Zent's body in 2015 has left several questions unanswered for over a decade
Dennis Ervin Zent was born on March 6, 1957, in Houston, Harris County, Texas, to parents Cecil and Beulah Zent. He spent his early years in the Houston area before eventually seeking a quieter existence amid the remote hills of Newton County, Arkansas, where he became associated with the small community of Pelsor. In December 2014, at the age of 57, he was reported missing from that area.
On July 18, 2015, a hunter discovered human remains in the Lurton vicinity of Newton County, on land adjoining property that Zent owned. The remains included a replaced hip joint bearing a serial number, and authorities noted that Zent had undergone hip replacement surgery. Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape stated that until the Arkansas State Crime Lab confirmed the identity, the name of the person believed to be the remains would not be released.
Deputies from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office, along with personnel from the Arkansas State Police, the National Park Service, the Flippin Police Department, and a canine search team from Kansas City, Missouri, assisted in collecting the remains.
A press release from the Newton County Sheriff’s Office dated July 23, 2015, announced that human remains had been found at Lurton. Obituaries listed Zent’s death as July 23, 2015, at age 58, while some memorial records give July 13. He was preceded in death by his parents, Cecil and Beulah Zent.
He was survived by daughters Christina Miley and Susanna Klick, brother Austin Zent, sister Connie Sumrall, nephew James Black, Jr., nieces Amanda Pasero and Heather Zent, and uncle Austin Green.
His body was returned to Texas for interment at Klein Memorial Park in Pinehurst, Montgomery County. A memorial service was held on August 30, 2015, at 10:30 a.m., with arrangements handled through Klein Funeral Home in Magnolia. In one guest book entry, Susanna Klick-Zent wrote that the family could finally lay him to rest, calling him Poppy, noting that the time they had together was cut short, and describing herself as the apple that did not fall far from the tree. Another message simply said, “Dennis I’ll see you there someday until then adios.”
Public records and news accounts from the time document the discovery of the remains near his property after months of his being missing, the identification effort centered on the hip implant serial number, and the subsequent burial back in the Houston area where he had been born.
Some later case compilations have listed the matter under death by force or homicide classifications, though contemporaneous official statements focused on the pending confirmation of identity by the state crime lab.
The available notices and reports provide no further public details on the precise circumstances surrounding his disappearance or the final determination of cause and manner of death.
