Officials said a human skull found near a Northwest Arkansas state park is that of an Oklahoma hiker who went missing in 2017.
The Washington County sheriff's office said Wednesday that a DNA test matched the skull and other skeletal remains to Rodney Letterman. The Bartlesville, Okla. man was 23 when he disappeared on Aug. 27, 2017, while hiking a 15-mile trail roughly 28 miles south of Fayetteville.
The sheriff's office said a hiker found the remains Feb. 25 on private property about a half-mile outside the park, renewing the years-old investigation into what happened to Letterman.
Park officials said at the time that Letterman became fatigued about a mile from his vehicle while hiking the park's strenuous Butterfield Trail in West Fork. Another hiker went to get his medication, but Letterman was gone when he returned.
Crews fanned out and searched thousands of acres of parkland. Officials said searchers found Letterman's cellphone and a few other belongings at the time.
The state Crime Lab tested the remains, but the cause of Letterman's death remains unknown, authorities said.