A bowhunter discovered the remains of another hunter who disappeared in the mountains of eastern Idaho more than half a century earlier.
“It’s pretty wild, ain’t it? You have another bowhunter looking for a shortcut who stumbled upon a bowhunter from 53 years ago,” Steve Penner, Lemhi County sheriff told the Eastern Idaho News. “The hunter was seeking a shortcut from one hunting area to another when he found human remains and then contacted the sheriff’s office.”
Penner said Raymond Jones, then 39 years of age from Salmon, went hunting in 1968 near the east fork of Hayden Creek in Lemhi County with others but disappeared. A search party of about 70 people including dogs and a helicopter could not find him. They eventually gave up the search because of wintry conditions.
Eastern Idaho News reports sheriff deputies found part of Jones’ wallet among the remains that included his identification. His wife is still alive.
Lemhi County is about 130 miles northwest of Idaho Falls.
(Photo source: U.S. Forest Service)