MEDFORD — The skeletal human remains found in a wooded area near in southern Oregon in November are those of a Shady Cove woman who disappeared over three years ago, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The Mail Tribune reports DNA testing performed by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the remains are those of Malina Lynn Nickel, who was reported missing on Nov. 23, 2016, when she was 29, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
Her nephew, 21-year-old Shane Wayman, was identified as a suspect in the case shortly after he was arrested in November in the murder of his roommate, 20-year-old Destiny Finch. Finch died of blunt force trauma, according to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office. Wayman has been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse in that case.
In the Nickel case, Wayman was indicted on two counts of criminal mistreatment and abuse of a corpse. It wasn’t immediately known if he has a lawyer.
Those charges stem from “circumstantial evidence” found at the scene where police recovered Nickel’s remains, off Highway 227 in Douglas County, the sheriff’s department said. Finch’s body also was found off Highway 227.
