IDAHO COUNTY, Idaho — Idaho County officials say human remains found along the Salmon River earlier this month may belong to a Boise man who disappeared on a fishing trip in 2017.
Idaho County Sheriff Doug Giddings told The Lewiston Tribune Wednesday that the skeletal remains of a human hand have been sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification.
Giddings said it could be months before the results are known, but he believes the bones are likely that of 54-year-old John "Randy" French, who drove into the river three years ago.
French disappeared in June 2017 after leaving for a fishing trip in the Riggins area. Within weeks, the sheriff's office found evidence that his Chevy Avalanche had plunged off Highway 95 and into the river near milepost 201.5.
Extensive searches by officials and French's family did not turn up any sign of the missing man.
