DILLON, Mont. (AP) — Human remains found last week near Bannack are those of a hunter who went missing 56 years ago, Beaverhead County Coroner Ron Briggs said Friday.

But how 62-year-old Elmer William Mikus died remains a mystery.

Mikus’ skeleton was found on a remote mining claim about two miles south of Bannack, Briggs said. Bannack is about 10 miles east of Dillon, in the southwestern corner of the state.

“It just fell into place the way it should,” Briggs said of the discovery and eventual identification of the remains.

Mikus went hunting in November 1950 and never returned. Authorities searched diligently for the man — who knew the area well — but found no trace.

“It was a goofy enough location that no one would have ever found him,” Briggs said.

Stephen Decker, owner of the mining claim, called authorities about a week ago after finding a human skull near a trail on which he was working, Briggs said.

A team of investigators from the state archaeology department, along with Briggs and other officials, went to the site and uncovered the rest of Mikus’ remains near a tree.

Mikus’ bones were clad in weathered overalls, a leather jacket and rubber overshoes. A .30-30-caliber rifle was lying across them, along with 21 rounds of ammunition. A wristwatch and pocket watch also were recovered at the site.

A state-issued key ring from 1950 bearing a license plate number helped authorities identify the remains.

Briggs met with county jailer Charles Osborn.

“I said, ‘Your family has been around in these parts for years. Do you remember anybody that went missing in the 1950s?”‘ Briggs said.

As it happened, Osborn had saved a written description of what Mikus was wearing when he disappeared.

“When he pulled that out I said, ‘If you weren’t so darned ugly, I’d kiss you,”‘ Briggs said.

A search of The Dillon Tribune’s archives helped solidify the match.

And although Mikus’ identity has been established, Briggs said the cause and manner of his death are unknown. The Montana Standard reported when Mikus went missing that he had heart problems and was feared to have suffered a heart attack.

Results from an analysis at the state crime lab could provide more details in coming months, Briggs said.

“We had given up,” said Mikus’ cousin John Schuler of Dillon.

Mikus’ father was a sheriff in Bannack in the 1880s, and Mikus was born and raised in the area, he said.

He was also a World War I veteran who lived a while in Idaho before returning to Montana in the 1930s. Mikus’ wife died years ago but has relatives scattered in the area.

“There’s a lot of people who will find some closure with this,” Briggs said.

Information from: The Montana Standard, http://www.mtstandard.com