Human remains found in northern Utah identified as Fort Hall man who went missing in 2019

Authorities have identified human remains found last week in a remote area of northern Utah as those of a man who went missing from the Fort Hall Reservation in Southeast Idaho more than five years ago.

The Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office in northern Utah reported Friday afternoon that skeletal remains recovered by a search and rescue team on April 27 in the Hansel Mountains southeast of Snowville, Utah, belong to 29-year-old Matthew Jay Broncho of Fort Hall, Idaho. The remains were first discovered by a person hunting for shed antlers in the area.

The remains were sent to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner, which confirmed Broncho’s identity through dental records.

According to the Fort Hall Police Department, Broncho was last seen on March 20, 2019. Tribal police notified the Box Elder sheriff’s department four days later that Broncho was missing, and that his truck had been found at an I-84 exit in Snowville, just south of the Idaho border.

Broncho’s wallet and phone were found inside the truck. His dog, which was also reported missing at the time, was found wandering a few miles west of Snowville three days later. A multi-agency search of the surrounding area in both Utah and Idaho did not produce any further evidence of Broncho’s whereabouts at the time.

Box Elder Sheriff Chief Deputy Cade Palmer said Friday that an investigation into Broncho’s death remains active. The sheriff’s office did not release any further details.