After being missing for two and a half years, the remains of Tacoma resident Austin Chase were recently identified.

On January 13, 2021, Chase allegedly led Buckley police and Pierce County deputies on a high speed chase through Buckley, Burnett, Wilkeson, and Carbonado, before officers terminated the pursuit near the Fairfax Bridge on state Route 165, south of Carbonado, according to a press release from the county Sheriff’s Department.

It’s never been clear why Chase might have wanted to elude officers.

The vehicle, a Ford Escape registered to Chase, was found later, having appeared to have driven over a steep embankment near the Evans Creek ORV Park; Chase could not be immediately located, and a search and rescue mission with K9 units and 4×4 vehicles failed to find him.

There was no sign of Chase over the next two weeks, there was no activity on his cell phone or in his financial accounts, and he never checked into an area hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said.

While Chase’s family and friends continued to wait for news, hikers found human remains in the Carbonado area on April 2, 2022.

Little information was released at the time — no identity, no cause of death — and the remains were kept by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office for more than a year until, on Aug. 18, it was announced via the Office’s media release webpage that Austin Chase was finally identified in regard to an “incident” on April 3, 2022, near Manley-Moore Road East in Carbonado.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Office PIO Sgt. Darren Moss confirmed later that the remains found by hikers on April 3, 2022 belonged to Chase.

The manner and cause of Chase’s death is still pending, and there is no timeline for when, or even if, that information will be known, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office; Moss added that the investigation remains open and active.