The remains of a hiker in a California national park were found after he had been missing for almost nine months, and his last journal entry offers insight into how he may have died.
While hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, 25-year-old Trammell Evans wrote that he was concerned about symptoms he was experiencing from alcohol withdrawal, according to a post his family shared in a Facebook group dedicated to find him.
“It appears he succumbed to complications related to alcohol withdrawal,” his family wrote in the group on Sunday, Jan. 28. “In his final journal entry, filled with optimism but also concern regarding the symptoms of withdrawal, Tram expressed his love for everyone, reminding us that ‘love is what life is all about.’”
Now, months after he was reported missing on May 5, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office is investigating to confirm the identity of the skeletal remains and cause of death, Z107.7 News reported.
But Evans’ family is all but sure the remains were his since they were found near his backpack in the Covington Flats area of the park, the Fowler-O’Sullivan Foundation said on Facebook Jan. 27. The foundation, which helps families of missing hikers search for their loved ones, had been aiding in the search for Evans.
His family was in the area to participate in a planned search with the foundation when they were given the news, the foundation said. The area is about two miles from Black Rock Campground, where Evans was dropped off April 30, McClatchy News previously reported.
Evans, from Jacksonville, Florida, was described as an “avid hiker.”
His brother Charlie told KESQ that Evans did more hiking in one month than “most people would want to do in their lifetime.” Evans had planned the trip thoroughly and had even taken that exact route through the park before, his brother said.
“He sought healing through being in nature, but underestimated the challenges of his condition,” his family wrote on Facebook, along with several photos of him with family over the years.
Several people wrote that while they were sad at the outcome, they also felt grateful Evans’ family finally got some closure.
One person thanked the family for their honesty about Evans’ condition, adding they have a child about the same age with a similar diagnosis.
“It is indeed a serious condition,” they said.
Someone else said they were sad to think about what Evans went through in his final days of life.
“To have been aware enough to be writing in a journal! Such a terrible and tragic loss,” they said. “I hope so much he felt nature’s embrace in his days there. I am so glad he did have so many experiences of this gorgeous natural world in his lifetime.”
‘Avid hiker’ vanishes after being dropped off at Joshua Tree campground. Search is on
‘Experienced hiker’ contacts family after vanishing before 200-mile trek, AZ cops say
Dog walker finds ‘historical’ human skeleton in desert, California sheriff says
Signup bonus from
