LATAH CO., ID – The body of an LCSC student missing for over two weeks was found over the weekend.
When 36 year old Joshwa Merriken went missing, investigators didn’t expect to find his body on the side of the highway.
“They discovered a body laying in the ditch line,” said Idaho State Police Trooper Chad Montgomery. “They called us, we went out there and we identified the person as Joshwa Merriken.”
Merriken was reported missing September 30th. He was last seen walking up the Lewiston hill toward Moscow.
It was two joggers who spotted Merriken’s body. Montgomery said even he’s driven by this area in the past two weeks. But the tall grass made it difficult to see anything hiding from a passing car.
“He was down in a deeper portion of the ditch line and his backpack obscured the image of his body for the most part so you weren’t able to see anything at all until you were right there,” said Montgomery. “So someone traveling at 60 miles an hour down the highway as a passenger or driver wouldn’t think twice as it being normal road debris.”
Montgomery said road debris found by the scene just south of Moscow points them to an 87 to 91 Ford F series pickup, possibly pulling a trailer in the bed or in tow.
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“That debris was left there recently,” said Montgomery. “So we’re verifying that to see if that is actually involved by pulling fingerprints and DNA off of the equipment.”
In a statement released on Sunday, LCSC president Tony Fernandez said “We are deeply saddened by the news of the death of LCSC student Joshwa Merriken. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family, friends, and the LCSC community.”
Investigators continue to process the evidence gathered at the scene in hopes of giving them a better idea of what happened. Officials are asking anyone with information that might be helpful to this investigation to call the Idaho state police at (208) 799-5150.
