JOSHUA TREE (KTNV) — National Park Service officials are working on identifying a set of human remains that were found at Joshua Tree National Park.
The remains were found on Jan. 25 off a trail in the Black Rock area of the park by researchers who had stumbled upon a backpack. Rangers later confirmed the backpack belong to 25-year-old Trammell Evans, an experienced hiker from Jacksonville, Florida who disappeared in April 2023.
According to rangers, he was dropped off at the Black Rock Campground on April 30, 2023. When he didn't turn back up and was reported missing, park officials initiated a search and rescue mission but weren't able to find him at the time.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Office and Riverside County Coroner's Bureau are still working on officially confirming who the remains are and their cause of death.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Palm Desert Sheriff Station at (760) 836-1600 or call anonymously at (760) 341-7867 and reference incident #O240250071.
