Possible human remains were found this week in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where a 29-year-old man had gone to camp through the winter.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office received a call last October about a vehicle parked at the trailhead to the Sioux Hustler Trail, which loops around some BWCA lakes. Deputies learned that officers from the U.S. Forest Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources knew about the vehicle and that it belonged to a man from New Mexico who decided to camp in the forest for the winter.
Officers from both departments searched but could not find the man's campsite.
Jordan Grider of Moriarty, N.M., an experienced outdoorsman, had informed his family about the general area where he would be, said St. Louis County Sheriff Sgt. Steve Borchers. Grider sent photos from his campsite, he said.
Forest Service officers returned to the area earlier this month and found a campsite about 1 ½ miles from the trail's entrance off the Echo Trail. They discovered a large amount of blood inside the tent, and investigators from the Sheriff's Office along with the St. Louis County Rescue squad were called to the site. Evidence indicated it was Grider's campsite, but he was nowhere to be found. Because of deep snow, the search was called off.
The search team returned to the site Thursday and found remains scattered across a large area near the campsite. It will be up to the medical examiner to determine if the remains are human and whose they are. Girder's family has been notified that they may be his.
Borchers said foul play is not suspected.
Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788
