Investigators are getting numerous tips from public, says Sheriff Steward 

The unidentified man whose dismembered body was found in Badger Basin west of Powell was shot several times before he died, according to investigators.

“According to the final report from the forensic pathologist, the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds,” Park County Sheriff Scott Steward said in a statement released Monday. “The report also indicates that the dismemberment occurred post-mortem, however we’re still unsure if the killing was done at the scene of the discovery or somewhere else, even outside our jurisdiction. We simply do not sufficient evidence to make that determination.”

The body, either a white or a light-skinned Hispanic man believed to be about 35 years old, was discovered in the Badger Basin on Jan. 8. He had been beheaded, his right arm was missing and his left hand had been mutilated in an apparent effort to hinder efforts to identify the victim.

This past weekend, deputies deployed specially trained cadaver dogs in and around the area of the crime scene in an attempt to locate the missing body parts. While the search produced no new evidence, there are plans to continue similar searches in the future, weather permitting, the sheriff said.

“This is not to say that the victim was from those regions,” Steward said. “It is simply a design native to those areas. It would be irresponsible of us to eliminate any possibilities at this stage.”

The sheriff’s office will “continue to aggressively pursue this investigation with primary focus on identifying the victim and bringing his killers to justice,” he said.

Anyone with information that may assist in this investigation is encouraged to come forward by contacting the Park County Communications Center at 307-527-8700. Any information provided will remain confidential, according to the release.