According to Kansas City authorities, a civilian stumbled upon the remains in a rural area of Cass County. Her family says friends told them Jessica was last seen giving her boyfriend’s longtime friend Kylr Yust, 28, a ride home from a party. Authorities tell PEOPLE that a second set of remains has been found in the same location as Runions’, but it could take weeks or even months to identify them — and that it’s premature to speculate whether they belong to Kopetsky.  Seven months after she went missing, the remains of 21-year-old Jessica Runions were positively identified on Wednesday, PEOPLE confirms. Days later, her empty vehicle was found abandoned and burned. Yust was once a suspect in the disappearance of his former girlfriend, Kara Kopetsky, the Kansas City police have said. Yust was arrested and is accused of setting Jessica’s car on fire and has been charged with “knowingly burning” a vehicle. In September 2011, Yust pleaded guilty to domestic violence after choking and striking his then-pregnant 18-year-old girlfriend, according to a police report obtained by PEOPLE. She wrote she was “unsure of what [Yust] will do next because the abuse has gotten worse over time.” 
 
 Kopetsky was last seen on surveillance video leaving her high school and was never heard from or seen again. Yust hired attorney Molly Hastings to represent him in his case for “knowingly burning” Jessica Runions’ vehicle. In a statement to ABC News on the discovery of Runions' remains, Hastings said, "Despite developments made over the course of the past week, Mr. Yust remains charged with only one count of knowingly burning a vehicle. This is not the first time that Yust has been in legal trouble.
– Police in Missouri have had to give the parents of Jessica Runions the news they dreaded: One of two skulls found outside Kansas City this week is that of their 21-year-old daughter, who disappeared in September. Police say the case is now a homicide investigation, People reports. Authorities say that identifying the other human remains could take weeks or months. The area in rural Cass County is still being searched for additional remains. The family of Kara Kopetsky, a 17-year-old who disappeared in 2007, was notified when the remains were found. Both Runions and Kopetsky were linked to the same man, 28-year-old Kylr Yust, who was charged with "knowingly burning" Runions' car after she vanished. It's not clear whether Yust will face additional charges now that Runions' remains have been found. "Kylr has not been charged with anything, with anything outside of knowingly burning a car, again ... and that we intend to fight," his attorney told ABC News before the remains were identified. Runions was last seen leaving a party with Yust, who was a friend of her boyfriend. Yust was also a suspect after Kopetsky, his ex-girlfriend, disappeared. In 2011, he pleaded guilty to domestic violence after choking another girlfriend. She told police he threatened to kill her, telling her he had "killed people before, even ex-girlfriends, out of sheer jealousy."