LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Skeletal remains found last week on Green Mountain have now been identified as those of a missing Lakewood paramedic.
Lakewood police confirmed Monday that the remains belong to Eric Pracht, who has been missing for nearly four years.
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office used dental records to identify the missing 25-year-old former paramedic with the South Park Ambulance District.
A hiker came across the Pracht's remains near the intersection of West Alameda Parkway and West Utah Avenue the morning of April 23 and called 911. Several personal items belonging to Pracht, including a handgun, were recovered at the scene, Lakewood police said.
Pracht disappeared on July 23, 2016. He was with a friend the previous night and was drinking when the two got into a heated discussion, but police said it wasn't physical.
Sometime later, police said Pracht and his fiancee went to take the trash out, but no one saw Pracht again. Investigators said he just walked away. He wasn't wearing shoes and didn't take his car.
In the nearly four years he has been missing, his family has never given up searching for him.
"Every holiday that passes, we miss him more and more," his father, Randy Pracht, said in a 2017 interview. He said he has been searching almost every weekend for his son.
Detectives with the Lakewood Police Department will continue to follow up on this case but have stated earlier that they have no evidence to suspect foul play.
A cause of death has not yet been determined.