HILL CITY, S.D. – The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday confirmed that the human remains found near the Pennington-Custer County line south of Hill City belong to an adult.
PCSO Captain Taylor Sperle said a combination of an autopsy and forensic dentistry allowed the determination. However they do not have enough information yet to know if the person was male or female.
Sperle said investigators plan to work with specialist organizations to help with an identification.
“There are places in across the nation that specialize in helping provide further information when remains such as this are found,” said Sperle, “and we are speaking with those individuals and working to what the next step is, as far as the help that they might be able to provide by sending the remains to them.”
***THIS IS AN UPDATE TO OUR PREVIOUS STORY BELOW***
HILL CITY, S.D. – The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office says human remains have been found near Hill City.
On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at approximately 1:00 p.m., Pennington County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a location south of Hill City, near the Pennington County and Custer County line, in reference to a badly decomposed body.
A hiker in the area discovered the body and called the Sheriff’s Office.
The body did not have any identifying information available. Further analysis of the human remains is being scheduled to determine a cause of death and identity.
The case is being investigated jointly by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office and the Rapid City Police Department. The sheriff’s office says they are also coordinating regionally with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in reviewing missing persons cases and working together to identify the deceased person.
No other information is available at this time, however updates on the ongoing and active investigation will be issued as appropriate.
Any individual with pertinent information in regards to this investigation is encouraged to contact Investigator Jorge Salas at (605) 394-6115.
