This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Authorities have identified a body found by hunters in northcentral Washington as that of a St. George, Utah man.
However, the Chelan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday said the cause of death for 26-year-old Yannich Chauncey Periou awaited results of an autopsy and forensic testing.
Periou's badly decomposed remains were discovered last Sunday on U.S. Forest Service land in the Beaver Creek area, roughly 15 miles northeast of Leavenworth, Wash., said Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Files.
Chelan County investigators say two hunters were driving along a USFS road scouting the area for an upcoming hunt when they saw what they first thought was a dead animal, just off the roadway. They stopped to investigate, saw the remains were human, and called 911.
The county coroner was able to determine the man's identity using dental records, but is awaiting test results from a laboratory in Seattle and additional investigation to determine the cause of death.
Chelan deputies had reported finding Periou's car, abandoned in a wooded area, on July 11.
It was undetermined why he was traveling in the Northwest.
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