MONTESANO, Wash. (AP) - Human remains found by hunters last year in eastern Washington have been identified as those of a 10-year-old girl missing since 2009, authorities said Thursday.
The remains of Lindsey Baum were identified using DNA, said Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott.
“We’ve brought Lindsey home,” Scott said at a news conference.
He declined to say specifically where the remains were found but said authorities were planning to search the area in what is now a kidnapping and homicide investigation.
Baum vanished nearly nine years ago from her hometown of McCleary, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Olympia. She was last seen the night of June 26, 2009, when she left a friend’s home. She was going to walk the four blocks to her house but never arrived.
Numerous searches took place in the days after she vanished, and bloodhounds were brought in, but she was never found. Her disappearance attracted national attention.
Scott said Thursday that Baum’s family is devastated and that they hoped she would someday be found alive.
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