Authorities Confirm Texas Remains Are Steven Marchi's

Texas authorities have determined that skeletal remains in December are those of Steven Marchi, a North Druid Hills musician who went missing in August, Marchi's mother said this week.

Marchi's skull and a piece of vertabrae were found 400 yards from Marchi's campsite in Gainesville, TX, and were delivered to the University of North Texas for DNA analysis, said Virginia Marchi, Steven Marchi's mother. Police recovered a number of items belonging to Marchi, she said, but her son's body has yet to be found, and investigators said they do not suspect foul play.

But while the question of identity has been resolved, the reasons behind Steven Marchi's drive from Atlanta to Texas in August and the cause of his death remain, for family and friends, a frustrating tangle of questions that may never be answered. Why did he get in his truck Aug. 12, tell his roommate he'd be back shortly and then drive to Texas? After he parked his truck at a Walmart in Gainesville, TX, days later, why would he walk five miles through 110-degree heat with only 8 ounces of water? Why did he leave his cell phone and his guitar, which he took everywhere, in his North Druid Hills townhouse?

And what happened to his body?

Investigators have suggested it could have been taken by scavenging animals in that area, including coyotes and feral pigs, Virginia Marchi said.

"Nothing makes sense to me or anybody else who hears the story," she said. "Maybe it was just misfortune, misadventure. Death by misadventure. ... I don't know where to go from here. Just accept that he's gone."

Marchi was an acoustic songwriter who played in Atlanta venues including Eddie's Attic and Smith's Olde Bar. He lived in Atlanta for several years with stints in between in Chicago and Los Angeles, where he moved to play his music for several months about two years ago. He also worked as a freelance masseuse.

Steven Marchi's family decided to donate his remains to Texas State University - San Marcos' forensic anthropology division. There will not be a memorial service, Virginia Marchi said.

"He was always a giver. He was always a helper. He was always a healer," she said. "It's sort of a fitting end when you think of Steve or anyone who enjoys music or folk music or Bob Dylan music."