Manner of death for man found in Port of Houston after disappearing from bar is undetermined

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The Harris County medical examiner's office is stumped in a case involving a man who disappeared from a bar in The Heights last year.

Six months after Delano Burkes was found dead in the Port of Houston, his manner of death is listed as undetermined.

SEE RELATED STORY: Port of Houston body belongs to man who disappeared in the Heights, medical examiner says

Investigators aren't able to say whether Burkes' death was a homicide, suicide, or an accident.

The 26-year-old vanished from McIntyre's Bar on West 20th Street last November. Video appeared to show him in distress.

"We believe it's something sinister that happened with him. He did not look like he had control of his legs. It did not look like he was going to make it very far," Burkes' mother, Karen Jeffley, told Eyewitness News back in November 2022.

Three weeks later, his body was found 15 miles away.