YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - The bodies of two California men reported missing since driving to a Dead & Company concert in Washington state in 2019 have been identified, officials said.
Jon Joseph Cleary, 47, of Huntington Beach, and Josiah Michael “Jo” Hilderbrand, 25, 25, of Piercy, disappeared in June 2019 as they were driving through Yakima County in southern Washington to see the newest iteration of the Grateful Dead in concert.
The car they were traveling in was found abandoned and partially burned about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the concert venue. The two were missing for over a year until Aug. 5, when two sets of human remains found roughly 13 miles (20 kilometers) from their car were identified by officials as Cleary and Hilderbrand, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
Local officials are treating the case as a homicide, and the FBI also is investigating the cause of death.
The men disappeared a day before before five people were brutally killed in Yakima County on June 8, 2019. Authorities have declined to comment about if the crimes are related.
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