Human remains found at Tadpole Fire zone in Gila National Forest

SILVER CITY, N.M. (KRQE) – Firefighters putting out the Tadpole Fire in the Gila National Forest found human remains. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office reports that on June 24, 2020, the U.S. Forest Service Tadpole Fire Incident Team notified the department after skeletal human remains were found in the fire zone near Ben Lilly Pond.

The sheriff’s office says deputies learned that a saw crew had made the discovery. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office states that two partial sets of human skeletal remains and multiple personal possessions were at the scene.

Authorities report the remains are believed to be those of a middle-aged male and female from out-of-state and may have been reported as missing persons in 2015 or later. Currently, the remains are believed to have been in their discovered location since August 2015.

The remains are undergoing forensic examination by the Office of the Medical Investigator and the case remains under active investigation by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. If you have any information, you’re asked to call the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division at 575-574-0100 or Dispatch at 575-388-8840.