Northwest Arkansas officials investigating if skull, human remains belong to hiker missing since 2017

Authorities in Northwest Arkansas said Tuesday they’re investigating whether a human skull and other remains found near a state park last month belong to an Oklahoma hiker who went missing in 2017.

The Washington County sheriff’s office said a hiker discovered the remains on Feb. 25 near Devil’s Den State Park. The county, meanwhile, is investigating whether the remains belong to 37-year-old Rodney Letterman, according to a statement on Tuesday.

An Arkansas State Parks spokeswoman said the hiker found the skull on private property about a half-mile from one of the park’s hiking trails.

The sheriff’s office didn’t say whether evidence suggests the remains belong to Letterman.

The Bartlesville, Okla. man went missing on Aug. 27, 2017, on a 15-mile trail roughly 28 miles south of Fayetteville, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.

Search crews fanned out over thousands of acres of parkland after he went missing, finding his cellphone and a few other belongings.

County officials said they sent the remains to the state Crime Lab for a DNA test, and were awaiting results.

The sheriff’s office said they were discovered near a hiking trail. Authorities did not release a cause of death for the person whose remains were found.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated where the remains were found. They were on private property outside of Devil’s Den State Park.

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