The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit (SAR) found a bone on Saturday that is believed to related to a case involving human remains found earlier this year on tribal property.
The search included 25 SAR volunteers and two search dogs, one that belongs to a former UCSO SAR member who came from Pullman, Wash., to assist in the search. SAR personnel from Walla Walla and Union counties also assisted.
Earlier this year, a property owner found human remains on land within the boundaries of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The SAR Unit assisted in recovering the body. The Umatilla Tribal Police asked the sheriff’s office for help again to search for evidence related to the human remains.
SAR member Bob English served as operations chief and ran the search mission on Saturday that resulted in the finding of the bone. The searchers worked for approximately 12 hours in difficult conditions and across terrain with 60-plus degrees of slope, some of which was covered in brush and trees.
