Hunter finds human skull in national forest, sheriff’s office says
SKAMANIA COUNTY, Wash. (Gray News) – Authorities in Washington state said a hunter stumbled upon what they said was a human skull within a national forest last week.
According to the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office, the hunter was in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest last Wednesday when they found the skull near Sawtooth Berry Fields.
The hunter contacted the Skamania County Communications Center to report the discovery, and a detective responded to where the coordinates were provided and recovered the skill.
After an examination, the skull was confirmed to have been from a human.
However, the identity of the remains has not yet been determined.
The case is under active investigation, and the skull will be sent in for forensic analysis as authorities attempt to make a positive identification.
The skull is the second human skull to be found in the forest in just a month.
On Aug. 10, a hiker reported finding another skull at the Big Lava Bed, an ancient lava flow within the Indian Heaven volcanic field in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
Authorities recovered the skull and found additional human remains in the area.
The sheriff’s office said preliminary investigation indicated the remains may belong to a hiker who went missing in the area in 2013.
Copyright 2024 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved. TMX contributed to this report.
