Remains found by mushrooms hunters are identified as missing man, Oregon cops say

Human remains discovered by mushroom hunters last year in Oregon have been identified as a missing man, deputies said.

Nathan Merkel was 62 years old when he vanished in June 2023, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 25 Facebook post.

Merkel lived in Rogue River when a couple moved into his home, according to a report in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

The pair said he moved out, but he had not been heard from, according to the online database.

Mushroom hunters stumbled upon human remains last April outside Jacksonville, deputies said.

DNA was extracted from the remains and sent to a lab, where they were identified as Merkel after a “lengthy process,” deputies said.

Investigators said they believe he died under “suspicious circumstances.”

Deputies said there are persons of interest in jail in a different county on unrelated charges.

The investigation is ongoing.

Jacksonville is near the Oregon-California border.

Helena Wegner

McClatchy DC

Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.