Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.  Left foot and ankle bones found in a boot at Eldora Mountain Resort last Wednesday, June 1, 2016 left Boulder County Sheriff’s deputies thinking they may have found clues to the two missing men that disappeared last winter.

An Eldora employee found the boot near the base of the mountain. He had been working in a clearing when he discovered a single left-foot, size 13 Rugged brand snow boot. When he looked inside he saw what appeared to be human remains.

Boulder County Sheriff Deputies responded to the call and met with the employee who led them to the site where the boot was found. The boot was wet and appeared to have been under the snowpack which had recently melted away.

A massive search team was organized including Nederland Fire Protection District, the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Eldora Ski Resort, BC Sheriff’s Emergency Services Unit and six cadaver dogs from Front Range Rescue. Searchers formed a fingertip grid and combed the area immediately surrounding the found boot site.

At 9 p.m. and dark, no additional human remains were found and the search was called off until Thursday morning. Sheriff’s investigators worked with the Boulder County Coroner’s Office trying to identify the boot and the remains. The relatives of the two missing men were contacted and informed of the search, said BC Emergency Services Sgt. Dave Booton.

 Boulder County Sheriff's Office investigators are hoping that DNA evidence will help identify the human remains found in a boot at Eldora Mountain Resort last month. They do not believe the remains belong to Ryder Johnson, an EMR employee who has been missing since April.

DNA results may take weeks, but investigators say the DNA profile will be entered a national database with the possibility that a match was entered when the person was alive. There is the speculation that, because the area has several campsites that attract transients from all over the country, they might be able to identify someone reported missing in another state.

Anyone who has any information or recognizes the boot should contact Detective Mark Spurgeon at 303-441-3615. The case number is 16-3148.