Officials identify remains found along Palisades in 2002 as missing kayaker - East Idaho News
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Officials identify remains found along Palisades in 2002 as missing kayaker

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JACKSON, Wyoming — A decades-long missing persons case from Jackson, Wyoming has come to a close after remains from the Palisades Reservoir area were recently identified.

Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Bryan Lovell confirmes the remains of 24-year-old Kyle Martin were identified as the bones found by a man walking his dog near the reservoir in 2002. Martin disappeared on May 30, 1995, while kayaking the Hoback river with a friend. The river is a tributary of the Snake River, which then flows into Palisades Reservoir.

The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office announced in April they were seeking help from Othram Inc. to identify the human remains scattered along the shoreline. Othram is a private Texas laboratory that examines forensic evidence with advanced DNA testing to identify the remains of close family members.

RELATED | Investigators employing advanced DNA testing to ID Palisades’ John Doe

Jackson Hole News and Guide spoke with Dave Hodges, a sheriff’s deputy on the Teton County Search and Rescue team, about the decades-long missing person case. Hodges notified Martin’s family of the positive identification of the remains last week.

“It was an incredible moment to call family after 26 years and say that your son and your brother are finally coming home,” Hodges said, according to Jackson Hole News and Guide. “We both had a moment of tears. It was a sense of closure for a family that’s been waiting so long to have their son and their brother home.”

Lovell told EastIdahoNews.com additional details will be released next week.

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