A set of human bones that were discovered in the Palisades Reservoir have been positively identified nearly two decades after they were first discovered.
Palisades Pete, as the unidentified remains came to be known, was in fact Kyle Martin, a man who drowned in a kayaking accident in 1995 along the Hoback River.
According to a news release from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, Detective David Hodges with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office reached out to see if there was a link between the bones and the drowning, which happened 20 miles upstream from the reservoir.
Hodges was part of the rescue effort to locate Martin after he became trapped under his kayak on June 1, 1995. According to the news release the kayak flipped upside down and Martin was swept away in the river.
Martin’s body was not found until 2002 when a local resident found a human skull in the Palisades Reservoir between Big Elk Creek and Blowout Canyon. Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office deputies searched the area and found more bones.
An anthropologist with Idaho State University separated the human bones from animal bones and determined the owner was a man between the ages of 25 and 45.
Since 2002, the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office has identified several drowning victims and contacted families to see via DNA testing if they were a match. Until recently, none of them were.
In March 2021 the sheriff’s office began working with Othram Inc., a biotechnology lab in Texas, to help identify the bones.
“This case is a prime example of how technology and continual efforts of multiple agencies and dedicated individuals working together can solve cold cases,” the news release from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office said. “The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office is happy to be a part of providing answers and closure to a family who have waited for so long missing their loved one.”