The hiker who found the remains recorded the GPS coordinates while walking through the Big Lava Bed in the national forest in eastern Skamania County. A deputy failed to find the remains the following day, but on Aug. 15, the hiker helped the police locate them.
There are two reported cases of people who went missing in Gifford Pinchot National Forest in 2013.
Maureen Kelly of Cougar, Washington, was 19 when she disappeared on June 9, 2013.
Kelly was with a group of friends at Canyon Creek Campground in the national forest when she told them she was going on a “spiritual quest” and left on foot, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. At the time of her disappearance, Kelly wasn’t wearing any clothing but did have a fanny pack.
Multiple search teams, including two K-9 search and rescue teams and more than 50 state-certified searchers, were involved in the operation.
Another missing persons report was filed four months later in October 2013 for Kristopher Zitzewitz of Portland, Oregon, who was 31 at the time.
“We flew treetop level looking in crevasses and tree wells on the lava beds,” Undersheriff Dave Cox said in the October 2013 statement. “It is extremely frustrating that we have been unable to locate Mr Zitzewitz.”
More than 100 people worked to find Zitzewitz on the last day of the search, but the sheriff’s office suspended the search on Oct. 5, 2013, about a week after Zitzewitz went missing, as there were no new leads about his location.
The skull and other remains found in the area were sent to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office to be officially identified.
The sheriff’s office said this is an ongoing investigation and there is no known risk to the public.
