A human skull found in eastern Skamania County earlier this month is believed to be the remains of a 31-year-old Beaverton hiker who went missing in 2013.
The remains are believed to belong to Kristopher Zitzewitz. He got separated from his hiking partner 11 years ago near the Big Lava Beds area and vanished. He wasn’t located in several search efforts. Authorities haven’t confirmed the remains belong to Zitzewitz, but a Facebook page dedicated to his memory believes it’s him.
A hiker in the Big Lava Bed within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest reported locating human remains on Aug. 10, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post. The hiker found a human skull and captured the GPS coordinates of the location.
The area is about 75 miles northeast of Portland.
Five days later, a sergeant from the sheriff’s office accompanied the hiker to recover the skull.
Zitzewitz is one of at least 500 people who have gone missing in the wilderness across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and California, according to The Pacific Northwest Missing Persons Project. The organization was created by a group of explorers who have spent time doing searches for Bigfoot and have dedicated time to search for missing people.
The sheriff’s office said the skull, along with other remains located in the area, were sent to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office to confirm the identity.
The investigation is ongoing, the office said.
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