Remains of missing woman, 19, found in remote area of Siskiyou County

The remains of a young woman who was reported missing nearly four months ago were found this week in a remote area of Siskiyou County, authorities said.

A hiker on March 28 reported seeing a body off the side of a road near U.S. Route 97 and Juniper Terrace, about eight miles northeast of the city of Weed, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Authorities on Thursday used DNA to identify the remains as those of Tatiana Dugger, 19, whose family reported her missing Jan. 9.

Dugger’s family, who live in the Butte County city of Oroville, told the police Dugger was last seen in Oakland. Her sister told KTVU news that Dugger was staying with a man the family didn’t know at a motel on MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland. Police conducted a welfare check at the motel room but found no sign of a kidnapping or other foul play, the station reported.

Using telephone records, Butte County sheriff’s detectives confirmed that Dugger’s last known location was Oakland, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. She had moved to the Los Angeles area about three months before she disappeared, according to the sheriff’s office.

It is unclear how Dugger ended up in Siskiyou County, about 280 miles from where she was last seen. The Siskiyou sheriff said in a statement that her remains, which were recovered off the side of a road, “appeared to have been there for an extended period of time.”

Authorities from Butte and Siskiyou counties did not say if anyone had been arrested in connection with Dugger’s disappearance and death. The Butte County detectives investigating her case didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking information Saturday.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact Butte County detectives at (530) 538-7671 or Siskiyou County authorities at (530) 841-2900.

On Saturday, Dugger’s family changed the stated purpose of a GoFundMe post dedicated to her disappearance. It had previously been used to raise money to hire a private investigator; as of Saturday it was seeking funds to cover funeral costs.

“Our hearts will forever be broken by this news,” Dugger’s sister wrote in a post Saturday. “Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.”

Dugger’s family couldn’t be reached Saturday.