Remains could be those of missing man

MONTROSE COUNTY — A group of hunters may have helped solve a mystery Friday when they stumbled upon human bones.

Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap said it could be quite some time before a positive identification can be made. Still, investigators with the San Miguel County Sheriff believe the bones could be those of Raymond Walter Wiggs III who disappeared in October of 2003 at the age of 19.

“We haven’t made any type of ID. These are older remains, probably from within the last three to four years. We don’t know if it’s male or female,” Dunlap said Tuesday. “They were pretty scattered, bleached out. It was not a whole skeleton.”

The hunters were in an area known as Sylvie’s Pocket, on the West End of Montrose County, when they discovered the bones. The hunters had to reach a place from where they could call before they could make their report.

The MCSO, with the assistance of San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, recovered part of a skull, some teeth, a femur, lower leg bone and part of a spinal column.

It was impossible for deputies to tell from the bones’ appearance whether there had been any physical trauma prior to death.

The bones were found just four miles from the San Miguel County line, and the location is close to where Wiggs was last seen, SMCSO Investigator Norman Squeir said.

“It was under very suspicious circumstances,” he said of the disappearance. “We strongly suspect these are his remains.”

Squeir later stressed no one was yet certain whose body had been found.

Additional searches conducted over the weekend yielded items also linked to Wiggs. Squeir said a search and rescue team discovered a ring and necklace similar to what Wiggs had worn. “Given the remoteness of the area, they were surprisingly close (to the bones),” he said. “They were several hundred yards above the scene of the bones, on a (natural) bench at the top of the canyon.”

Squeir added it was “quite possible” the individual whose remains were discovered had fallen, but the matter was still under investigation.

Wiggs was reported missing more than four years ago by his employer, whom Squeir said was camping with Wiggs on the south side of the west end of the Little Gypsum Valley. The man had invited Wiggs out from Michigan to come work with him on a surveying team for a gas transmission line.

He and Wiggs were reportedly camping with the man’s father and the father’s girlfriend, who lived in Moab, Utah.

The group reported Wiggs walked away from the campsite in a sleeveless T-shirt. They reportedly told investigators attempts to locate him — which included building a bonfire and making noise to attract his attention the first night, and a search the next morning — had failed. They made the report from Moab.

How the bones came to be where they were found Friday was not immediately known, but Dunlap said he suspected animals. “It looks like that’s what happened. …they could’ve been scattered for a long distance. (A determination) will depend on what the coroner finds. We don’t have a lot to go on.”

Squeir is hopeful the teeth will help confirm the identity of the remains. “I think it’s possible the pathologist could make an ID,” he said.

Dr. Thomas Canfield, Montrose County coroner, said he transferred the case’s jurisdiction to the San Miguel County coroner, but he will still be conducting the forensic examination. “That has been their case, if it is who we believe it is,” he said. “If it ends up not being this individual, we may reconsider (the transfer).”

Canfield it could be days to weeks before a positive ID is made.

The Montrose and San Miguel sheriff’s offices were to continue searching the Sylvie’s Pocket area Wednesday.

Montrose County and the city of Montrose also each have an active missing person case.

Dale Williams of Nucla was last seen in May of 1999. His truck was recovered from the convergence of the Dolores and San Miguel rivers and investigators said at the time that it did not appear to have been driven there accidentally.

Williams was 43 when he vanished. He was last seen in a dark blue T-shirt and blue jeans. Williams is 5-feet, 7-inches tall, weighs 170 pounds, and has light brown hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information should call 252-4023.

Kenneth “Tony” Chacon was last seen in March of 2005. His home and possessions were left intact and there has been no reported activity on his bank account. Chacon was known as a reliable worker at Russell Stover’s candy factory and both investigators and his family members say he is not the type to simply walk away from responsibilities.

Chacon is 5-feet, 6-inches tall, and weighs 140 pounds. He has long, dark hair, shot through with some gray, and a mustache. He usually braids the hair, and wears a ball cap, jeans, T-shirt, flannel shirt-jacket and tennis shoes. Chacon also has glasses and is a smoker.

Anyone with information should call 252-5200.