IDAHO COUNTY, Idaho — The family of a missing Boise man will finally have closure, more than two years after he vanished during a trip near Riggins.
The Idaho County Sheriff's Office confirmed Thursday afternoon that remains found along the Salmon River in January are those of 54-year-old John Randall "Randy" French.
French disappeared in June 2017 after leaving for a fishing trip. Investigators believed that his pickup truck had veered off Highway 95 and into the river, but extensive searches did not turn up a body or the truck.
In January, a woman found a human hand along the bank of the Salmon River on Pealy Loop Road, near milepost 220.5 on US Highway 95. The hand was sent to the University of North Texas for anthropological and DNA analysis, but snowfall in the area prevented officials from doing more searches in the area where the hand was found.
On Jan. 27 and 28, after the weather improved, deputies returned to the site and continued searching. About 100 yards downriver, they found additional human remains, including a skull and jawbone.
Those bones were sent to Dr. Richard Fixott in Redmond, Oregon, who examined them and concluded they belonged to French.
"Coroner Cody Funke and ICSO wish to thank the Center for Human Identification, NamUs.gov, and Dr. Richard Fixott for their assistance," the sheriff's office wrote in a release. "Our thoughts and sympathy remain with the family of Randy French during this difficult time."
French's remains will be released to his family, officials say.
