About FlashAlert on Twitter:
FlashAlert utilizes the free service Twitter to distribute emergency text messages. While you are welcome to register your cell phone text message address directly into the FlashAlert system, we recommend that you simply "follow" the FlashAlert account for Deschutes County Sheriff's Office by clicking on the link below and logging in to (or creating) your free Twitter account. Twitter sends messages out exceptionally fast thanks to arrangements they have made with the cell phone companies.
Updated February 27, 2020 at 4:10 pm by Sgt. William Bailey
NARRATIVE:
The skeletel remains located on February 17th have been positively identified as belonging to Chase M. Hove of Bend. Hove was reported as a missing person to the City of Bend Police Department in June 2017. DCSO detectives recovered a firearm with the remains and this case is being investigated as a suicide.
“Suicide is a devastating public health issue. It’s important to remember that suicide is a very complicated act and that no single thing causes someone to die by suicide,” said Whitney Schumacher, Deschutes County’s Suicide Prevention Coordinator. “We all can help prevent suicide in Central Oregon. Make sure people you love know about available suicide prevention resources.”
If you or someone you love is thinking about suicide, please call the Deschutes County Crisis Line at 541-322-7500 Option 9. You can also call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Central Oregon Suicide Prevention resources are available at: www.preventsuicideco.org/local-resources/.
## End of Updated Release ##
Released by: Sgt. William Bailey – Public Information Officer
Release Date: February 18, 2020
NARRATIVE:
On February 17, 2020, at approximately 3:51pm, deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) were dispatched to a report of human remains that had been located on U.S. Forest Service land approximately one half mile south of the Deschutes River Woods area. An individual hiking in the area made the discovery and reported the information to Deschutes County 911.
Deputies and DCSO detectives arrived at the location and confirmed the discovery of human skeletal remains. Deputies and detectives have worked since then, assisted by the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office, Bend Police Department, Deschutes County Medical Examiner, and the Oregon State Police Crime Lab, to document, collect evidence, and recover the remains. A State Forensic Anthropologist will conduct an examination of the skeletal remains in an attempt to determine identity and cause of death.
Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Street Crimes, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with six K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves the nearly 190,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 230 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 187 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
## End of Release ##