Human remains found near Interstate 90

Montana authorities are investigating the origin of human remains found near a rest stop off Interstate 90 in Mineral County.

According to Mineral County Sheriff Mike Toth, a huckleberry picker found bones and a shoe near the Dena Mora rest area last week, a few hundred yards from the off-ramp on the Montana-Idaho border.

Toth said deputies from his department confirmed the remains were human. An investigator with the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation confirmed there were two sets of bones.

Toth took the remains to the state crime lab in Missoula for further investigation.

Toth believes the remains may be of a man and woman in their 20s who were reported missing from Issaquah, Washington, in 2017.

He said their vehicle was located on Dec. 2 at the Dena Mora rest stop, but a large search in both states turned up nothing.

According to a previous Mineral Independent story, the missing people are Suzanne “Annie” Michelle Labelle, 24, and Sherwin “Jay” Fernandez Lamando Jr., 25, both from California.

The Mineral County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the Issaquah, Washington, Police Department on Dec. 1 concerning Labelle and Lamando, who were reported missing by family earlier that day.

Deputies located their vehicle parked at the Dena Mora rest area later that night. A five-day search was conducted by deputies, Mineral County Search and Rescue, and the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue out of Idaho.

The search was called off by Mineral County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 7 due to weather conditions and a lack of indication that anyone was in the area.