Remains found near Big Bear have been identified as those of a firefighter who went missing shortly after his captain was killed in a 2020 wildfire, the San Bernardino County sheriff’s office said.
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Carlos Baltazar, 35, of La Puente, was last seen by his family on Sept. 20, 2020. He reportedly had gone to the barracks of his Forest Service crew to help arrange the funeral of Charlie Morton, the Hotshot squad boss who died Sept. 17 while fighting the El Dorado Fire.
Baltazar’s sister told TV station KTLA that he had been depressed about Morton’s death — “it just weighed heavily on him.”
Baltazar’s car was found abandoned off Highway 18 a few miles east of the city of Big Bear, and his backpack was nearby. An extensive ground and air search turned up nothing else.
On Oct. 26, 2024, a hunter reported discovering a human skull in a rugged area near Cactus Flat, about 3 miles from where the car had been found. A sheriff’s team found other remains.
Late last month, the San Bernardino County coroner’s office identified the remains as Baltazar’s. The cause of death remains undetermined, the office said.
The El Dorado Fire, which burned more than 20,000 acres, was inadvertently started by a gender-reveal pyrotechnic display. The couple who set off the device made a deal last year to plead guilty to charges including felony involuntary manslaughter.
