Human remains found in Washington national forest believed to be missing 2013 hiker

A hiker who found remains in a Washington national forest earlier this month may help lead authorities to closing a 2013 missing-person case in the remote area.

Investigators say there is a hiker who went missing in the area more than a decade ago and the medical examiner will help determine key details about the decedent.

A hiker who was climbing Aug. 10 on the Big Lava Bed in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest alerted authorities that they had found human remains, a press release from the Skamania County Sheriff's Office said.  

The hiker located a human skull and recorded the GPS coordinates, the release said, ultimately leading sheriff's investigators to the site several days later.

Investigators believe, based on preliminary evidence, that the remains belong to a hiker who went missing in the Big Lava Bed in 2013 - and there are two open cases from that year.

The sheriff’s office said the skull and other remains in the area were transported to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.  

USA TODAY contacted the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office for more information about the found remains.  

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Missing hikers at Gifford Pinchot National Forest in 2013 

Reports indicate there were at least two hikers reported missing in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in 2013 whose cases remain unsolved.

In October 2013, the Skamania County Sheriff's Office reported a missing hiker case in the forest, according to Reuters.

Kristopher Zitzewitz, 31, an Oregon resident, went missing after being separated from his hiking partner in the Big Lava Beds of the forest near Mount Rainier, the article from Reuters details.  

The search for Zitzewitz was suspended on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, the Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox told Reuters in a written statement. 

A few months earlier in 2013, another hiker went missing after going on a spiritual quest in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.  

Maureen Kelly, 19, a Vancouver resident, went missing on Sunday, June 9, 2013, after leaving the forest’s Canyon Creek Campground. Kelly was last seen naked and wearing a fanny pack that contained a compass and a knife, an article in The Colombian says.   

The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search for Kelly on June 10, 2013, and suspended their efforts the next day, the newspaper said.  

Both Kelly and Zitzewitz have not been found, according to the reports.  

Contributing: Reuters

Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.