The remains of missing hiker Trammell Evans were found in Joshua Tree National Park last week.
Z107.7 has been closely covering this story since Evans went missing in May of 2023. Though Evans ultimately met a tragic end, the Morongo Basin community banded together in the search for Trammell, known to his friends and family as “Tram”.
An avid long-distance hiker, the 26 year-old Evans was last seen setting off for a long journey through Joshua Tree National Park near Black Rock Campground in Yucca Valley on April 30. His planned route was from Black Rock to Geology Tour Road, then back to Black Rock via the California Riding and Hiking Trail. He was traveling alone.
On May 5, he had not contacted his family, and was reported overdue. The National Park Service and the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station immediately reported him as missing. Extensive searches within the bounds of the National Park were conducted, including the use of aircraft, but not evidence of Evans was found.
Evans was known by his family to go “off grid” for stretches of time, and shut down his phone. They hoped that he had successfully hiked back out of the park, and had been living off-grid in the Morongo Basin. Residents living near Black Rock Campground were contacted in the hope that security footage might show Evans hiking away from the Black Rock Campground.
The Evans family, working with park staff, local law enforcement, and volunteers, comprehensively distributed posters with Trammell’s photograph, description, and last whereabout in storefronts and gathering places throughout our community in the hopes that he had left the park.
The family worried that he had suffered from a mental health crisis, or had become the victim of a violent crime.
As his face and story, became inescapable in the high desert, sightings of Trammell were reported.
A private investigator hired by the family found leads that said the missing hiker may have been living in Slab City near the Salton Sea. Another sighting suggested he was passing through Wonder Valley. The family met with a volunteer searchers who used sattelite imagery and another who looks for human DNA in coyote droppings.
But these were all dead ends.
On January 25, researchers inside the National Park located a backpack near Black Rock Campground. The researchers notified park staff, who then found human skeletal remains not far from the backpack.
The backpack was identified as belonging to Trammell Evans, and the family was notified of both discoveries.
While the investigation of the remains was being handled by the Riverside County Coroner’s Office, the family said that they believed the remains were Tram’s.
On January 31, the Coroner confirmed that the remains were those of Trammell Evans. As of today, the precise time and cause of death have not yet been released.
