While he was undoubtedly in search of a different type of bone, a Utah shed hunter, whose name has not been released, accidentally found the remains of a man who had been missing for five years.
Searching for discarded antlers in the remote Hansel Mountains last month, the hunter stumbled upon human remains while traversing the hillside in northeastern Utah. Alerting authorities about his findings, the Box Elder Sheriff’s Department scrambled a search and rescue team to the area to investigate. After officials successfully recovered the remains, they were later identified at the office of the Medical Examiner using dental records.
The remains were identified as Matthew Jay Broncho, a Shoshone-Bannock tribal member who was reported missing from Idaho in March 2019.
“We extend our condolences to the family of Matthew Broncho,” chief deputy sheriff Cade Palmer said in a statement. “Although this is difficult news to receive and there are still unanswered questions, we hope they can find some comfort in knowing that he has been found.”
There are no indications that investigators have come to a conclusion as to how the victim might have died, or if there was any suspected foul play.
An online fundraiser offers some backstory on the mysterious disappearance of this young man. According to details shared, Brocho, who was 34 at the time of his disappearance, was last seen at his residence on the Fort Hall Reservation of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in late 2019.
After he wasn’t seen for a few days, his mother utilized his cell phone’s GPS tracking to help locate his whereabouts. That only led those in search of him to his abandoned Toyota Tacoma that was found parked near an on-ramp off I-84.
A search party was later dispatched, but did not find any clues about the 34-year-old’s disappearance. Until his remains were unearthed last month, there had been no breaks in the case.
The investigation remains open in a joint effort between both the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office and the Fort Hall Police Department.
