DOG LAKE – Police say the remains found by two hikers near Dog Lake are human, but, they still have many questions about how the person died.
This investigation started after a dog went off trail around Dog Lake. Unified Police Lieutenant Brian Lohrke says, “The hikers went to go find the dog and found skeletal remains.”
Lohrke says the body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. However, the hikers were not able to tell exactly what they found. “At that point, they were not sure, because of the darkness, were not sure if it was animal or human at the time. They marked the area properly and called the Unified Police Department,” Lohrke says. Search crews were sent up to the area in the morning and confirmed the bones were that of a human.
Investigators have a lead on who the remains might belong to. Lohrke says Blake Richardson disappeared from near the area last December, however, the medical examiner has not confirmed if the remains are his. “They go through a series of different tests for identification. We’ve sometimes found out the same day. Sometimes it has been a couple days. Sometimes, it has been months.”
Lohrke also says there are no clear clues about how the person died.