A shed hunter who found human stays in Utah’s distant Hansel Mountains late final month has supplied regulation enforcement with key proof in an unsolved lacking individual’s case. The stays have been recognized as Matthew Jay Broncho, a Shoshone-Bannock tribal member who was reported lacking from Idaho in March 2019.
The Field Elder County Sheriff’s Workplace acquired phrase on April 27, 2024, {that a} shed hunter, whose identify has not been made public, had found skeletal stays in northeast Utah, in accordance with a press launch from the company on Friday. Officers from the sheriff’s workplace joined the Utah Workplace of the Medical Examiner and the Field Elder County Search and Rescue Crew to find the stays on the slopes southeast of Snowville, between the Idaho state line and the Nice Salt Lake. The groups recovered the stays and recognized them on the Workplace of the Medical Examiner utilizing dental information.
“We lengthen our condolences to the household of Matthew Broncho,” chief deputy sheriff Cade Palmer stated in a press release. “Though that is troublesome information to obtain and there are nonetheless unanswered questions, we hope they’ll discover some consolation in figuring out that he has been discovered.”
It’s not instantly clear how Broncho might have died or if he died on the location the place his physique was found. The case stays an energetic investigation and the sheriff’s workplace has declined to launch any additional info, together with whether or not officers suspect foul play.
Based on a Fb fundraiser Broncho, then 34, was final seen at his residence on the Fort Corridor Reservation of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in late winter 2019 (the precise date isn’t clear). There was no indication that Broncho had deliberate to depart dwelling for an prolonged interval and, by March 22, 2019, his mom had grown anxious sufficient to trace his cellphone “utilizing GPS.” She traced it to his pickup truck, a darkish grey Toyota Tacoma that was parked on the I-84 Exit 7 ramp close to Snowville. Broncho’s cellphone and pockets containing his driver’s license, tribal ID, and financial institution playing cards had been discovered locked contained in the automobile.
Though the fundraiser states Broncho’s mom contacted the Field Elder County Sheriff’s Workplace dispatch that very same day to report the truck and her son’s disappearance, the sheriff’s workplace said in its launch that it had acquired phrase of Broncho’s disappearance two days in a while March 24 from the Fort Corridor Police Division. A search was performed by 50-plus members of a number of regulation enforcement companies, tribal officers, buddies, household, and volunteers with out success. Broncho’s canine, a 3-year-old purple Dachshund, was found close to the I-84 Exit 5 ramp on March 27, 2019, wandering just a few miles west of the place the truck was discovered.
“Since [Broncho’s] disappearance, a joint investigation between the Field Elder County Sheriff’s Workplace and the Fort Corridor Police Division has been ongoing,” Palmer stated.
Broncho had beforehand participated in Shoshone-Bannock relay and rodeo occasions, and had run for Land Use Commissioner within the Tribe’s basic election the 12 months earlier than he went lacking.
“We kindly request privateness and respect as we come to phrases with the lack of our beloved Matthew,” KM Clelan Ephraim, who recognized herself as Broncho’s cousin, wrote in a Fb submit Friday. “We’re grateful for the help and love of our household and buddies who helped in our 5 12 months seek for Matthew. We discover solace figuring out that we’re surrounded by caring people who contributed and supplied prayer.”
The general public announcement on Friday that Broncho had been recognized coincided with the Biden Administration’s proclamation that Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Individuals Consciousness Day will now be noticed on Might 5 every year.
