More human bones found at Joshua Tree National Park

For the second time in a month, skeletal remains have been found in a desolate section of Joshua Tree National Park.

A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy responded to the national park shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday after someone reported finding bones. The deputy sent photographs of the remains to the coroner, who confirmed they were a portion of a human skeleton, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The following day, homicide detectives, crime scene investigators and coroner’s officials retrieved the remains and began trying to determine the person’s identity and cause of death.

In late December, law enforcement officers found human remains at Joshua Tree along with the personal belongings of Paul Miller, a 51-year-old Canadian man who was believed to have been hiking in the Fortynine Palms Oasis area when he went missing in 2018.

Those remains were found after an outside agency analyzing aerial photographs spotted them in the image. The photos were taken during the summer and focused on a steep, rocky portion of the national park away from any trails.

Anyone with information about the latest set of human remains is asked to contact Det. James Tebbetts or Sgt. Ryan Smith at (909) 387-3589. Anonymous tips should be directed to (800) 782-7463.