Local

Remains found in Idaho river belong to Boise man who went missing three years ago

“He was a great father. He just had this way about him that kind of rubbed off on me,” Taylor French, right, said about his father, Randy French. This photo is from Father’s Day in 2017, just a couple of weeks before Randy went missing.
“He was a great father. He just had this way about him that kind of rubbed off on me,” Taylor French, right, said about his father, Randy French. This photo is from Father’s Day in 2017, just a couple of weeks before Randy went missing. Provided by Gina Ash

Idaho County Coroner Cody Funke and the Idaho County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed that human remains found on three separate days in January belong to 54-year-old John Randall French, of Boise.

A hand found by a woman on Jan. 5 along the riverbank was sent for analysis to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. Deputies returned to the area, according to a press release, on Jan. 27-28 and found more skeletal remains, including a cranium and a lower jaw bone. Those were sent to Dr. Richard Fixott in Richmond, Oregon, for forensic dental analysis, according to the release.

Fixott confirmed that the remains were of French, who went missing in June 2017. The Idaho County Sheriff’s Office suspected that he crashed his vehicle into the Salmon River north of Riggins on that June 30.

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 1:22 PM.

Ximena Bustillo
Idaho Statesman
Breaking news reporter Ximena Bustillo is a media arts and political science student at Boise State University. She has previously worked for The Arbiter, KIVI-TV, The Washington Times and contributed to POLITICO. Ella habla español.
Get unlimited digital access
#ReadLocal

Try 1 month for $1

CLAIM OFFER