Nearly three years to the day after he went missing in an early-season snowstorm while elk hunting, human remains found recently have been identified as those of Mark A. Strittmater, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
Strittmater’s remains were found about 325 yards away from prior search areas, according to the sheriff’s office, and identification was made though “examination of the remains and known dental records of Mark Strittmater.”
The Carbon County resident was 44 when he went missing Oct. 19, 2019, while elk hunting in the Medicine Bow National Forest and an early-season snowstorm rolled in.
His disappearance set off several searches. His binoculars were found by a hunter in November 2020.
The remains were discovered shortly after some hunters from Wisconsin found a firearm on the ground in the general area where Strittmater was thought to have disappeared.
The Wisconsin hunters found the firearm “in the vegetation” at about 8 a.m. Oct. 16 south of Rawlins, according to the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. The hunters alerted a Wyoming Game and Fish Department warden, who in turn called the sheriff’s office and Carbon County Coroner’s office.
An initial search of the area uncovered partial human remains and personal belongings, according to the sheriff’s office. A more thorough search Oct. 20 resulted in the recovery more remains and personal items. That search involved personnel from the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology and the Wyoming State Archaeologist’s Office, along with county officials.
Strittmater’s disappearance was one of Wyoming’s most prominent missing persons cases.
