Body Found in Laramie Sunday Likely That of Christopher Mauk, Father Says

By Jennifer Kocher

Special to the Wyoming Truth

This story has been updated with new information on November 6, 2023 as of 2:45 p.m. MT.

The father of the missing Laramie man, Christopher “Fid” Mauk, said the remains of the body found in Laramie on Sunday were likely those of his son.

Though the Laramie Police Department has not yet publicly identified the remains, Mauk’s father, Jerry Mauk, said he received a call from a Laramie police detective around 6 p.m. Sunday, informing him that the body found in Laramie River Greenbelt Park by a dog walker on Nov. 5 was Christopher.

In a subsequent call with the detective Monday morning, the detective revised that information, saying it was likely Christopher but more testing needed to be done, and those details couldn’t be shared with the family, Mauk told the Wyoming Truth.  

According to a statement by Steven Morgan, who oversees the records and communications division of the Laramie Police Department, the remains have not been positively identified.

“There are multiple ways to accomplish identification, all of which take some time,” Morgan said in an email to the Wyoming Truth. “We’re waiting for results and corroboration of the evidence.”

Jerry Mauk wasn’t sure of the exact location of where the body was found, but said family members who saw the police on scene told him that it was within about a six-block walk from Lee’s Mobile Home Park on N. Cedar Street, where Mauk lived with his girlfriend, 42-year-old Nikki Gallegos.

Mauk, 40, has been missing since July 2, 2022, according to Gallegos. In a previous interview with the Wyoming Truth, she said Mauk was crying when he woke her up at 5:30 a.m. that morning. He said he had secrets and wanted to talk as soon as he got out of the shower. Gallegos said she fell asleep before they had that conversation and never saw or heard from him again.

Mauk, who was missing the lower half of his left leg following a fireworks accident in 2018, did not have a prosthetic leg and relied on crutches that he left at home, along with his wallet, eyeglasses and medications, Gallegos said.

Mauk’s father called the news a “mixed blessing” as the family now waits details from police. At present, there are no funeral or memorial plans in the works, he said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.