Human remains discovered for third time in one month at Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Sep 19, 2024, 7:13 AM
Gifford Pinchot National Park sign at the park's entrance. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A search party found more human remains in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, making it the third time a set of human remains was discovered in the area within the last month.
The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office conducted and organized a search mission, believing they found what remains of John Hopkins, a 69-year-old hiker from Seattle who went missing in Nov. 2022. The human remains — specifically a skull — were discovered by volunteers from both the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team and Silver Star Rescue Team near McClellan Meadows.
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“This mission was successful in recovering human remains believed to be Hopkins,” the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office stated on social media. “The remains will be sent out for forensic DNA analysis to confirm the identity.”
Hunters initially found belongings believed to be Hopkins approximately 1.5 miles northeast of where his car was found in 2023, but no remains were found at that time.
Third body found in Gifford Pinchot in several weeks
This comes after two other sets of human remains were found around Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
On Aug. 10, a hiker found a human skull while in the national forest and reported it to local authorities. Detectives went out to find the human remains, but couldn’t until the hiker volunteered to return to the area five days later to help them recover the skull. Investigators believe these remains belonged to a hiker, 31-year-old Kristopher Zitzewitz from Portland, who’d been missing since 2013.
More on human remains being found in Gifford Pinchot: Human remains found in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, could be missing hiker from 2013
The second set of remains, also a human skull, was discovered near Sawtooth Berry Fields on Sept. 4. The remains have yet to be identified as anyone, as of this reporting, with the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office stating DNA confirmation could take six months to a year to complete.
According to KOIN 6 News, the three sets of human remains — all discovered between Aug. 10 and Sept. 14 — are unrelated.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
