By VICKIE FEE

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Human skeletal remains discovered by a hunter in a wooded area on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin on October 30, 2023 have been positively identified through DNA testing and dental records as 31-year-old Dean A. Ford, Menominee Tribal Police reported Wednesday.

Ford, a descendant of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, had been missing since July 2018, according to the report. Tribal police suspect Ford was living either on the Menominee Indian Reservation or in the city of Shawano, Wisconsin, at the time of his disappearance. Anyone with information on his disappearance or about his associates, should call the tribal police tip line at 715-799-5806.

The FBI and the tribal police are actively investigating the death as a homicide. No details about how he died have been released.

Vickie Fee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext 242. Her email address is vfee@miningjournal.net