Location: Highway 190 west of Wishon Road, Springville

Incident Date: 03/12/2016

Case Number: 16-03274

Victim: unknown

City: Springville

Posted by: Media Relations

On 3-12-16 at approximately 1517 hours, Deputies were dispatched to an area on Highway 190 above Springville regarding the possible discovery of human remains.

Deputies responded to the area and met with the reporting person who stated he was hiking in the mountain area north of Highway 190 and west of Wishon Road, Springville when he discovered a human skull. Deputies responded to the area described by the reporting person and discovered human skeletal remains. Detectives and Crime Lab personnel responded to the area to take over the investigation.

Detectives and Crime Lab personnel collected the skeletal remains along with several items of clothing and transported them to the Tulare County Coroner’s Office for further examination.

On 3-16-16 an examination was conducted on the skeletal remains and the cause of death was ruled to be an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Further examination of the remains could not determine if the decedent was male or female. The decedent was determined to be between 21 and 35 years of age with brown hair and a small framed stature. The decedent had visible dental work and obvious decay to the upper left incisor tooth. The clothing is described as light weight dark colored flannel pants and a dark colored light weight long sleeve shirt with a hood.

The skeletal remains are being sent to a forensic anthropology lab for further testing to identify the decedent.

This case remains an active investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department at (559) 733-6218 or 1-800-808-0488. Anyone with information can remain anonymous by calling TIP NOW at (559) 725-4194.