Authorities identify remains found by hikers 47 years ago near the Arizona-Nevada border

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Remains found by hikers in a shallow grave 47 years ago near a lake on the border of Arizona and Nevada have been identified.

The man was Luis Alonso Paredes, who was from El Salvador but may have been living or working in the Las Vegas area at the time of his death, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.

The remains were discovered on Nov. 23, 1976, in a desert area in northwestern Arizona, just east of Lake Mohave.

According to the sheriff’s office, an autopsy at the time revealed that the victim was likely in his early to mid-30s and had been shot in the head at close range. But despite authorities collecting fingerprints during the autopsy, the case soon went cold and the victim remained nameless for close to five decades.

The sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a news release that it revived its investigation in October by comparing the fingerprints to all available fingerprints records, leading to the identification.

But authorities say they haven’t been able to locate any relatives of Paredes, who may have been employed by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy in the San Francisco area about a decade before his death.

The sheriff’s office asked the public to contact them with any information about the case or that could help them locate relatives of Paredes.