POWER COUNTY, Idaho — Nearly three years after a fisherman discovered a human skull while fishing the Fort Hall River in Power County, authorities have identified the remains as belonging to a woman who went missing back in 2019.
In a press release on Wednesday, the Idaho State Police (ISP) announced that the remains belong to Lesiah Olivia Pickett.
Pickett was known as a transient who had previously resided in Spokane, Washington and Ogden, Utah. She was last seen in the Pocatello area on October 20, 2019. Her family has been notified of the positive identification.
The identification is the result of an investigative partnership between the Power County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), the ISP Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) team, ISP Forensic Services Division, as well as other municipal, state, and federal agencies.
After the angler reported the human skull to authorities on July 30, 2022, the Fort Hall Police Department, the FBI, and the Power County Coroner responded to the scene. A subsequent search turned up no other skeletal remains. There were also no signs of trauma to the skull, according to the coroner assigned to the case.
Ultimately, the skull was turned over to the Ada County Coroner's Office as well as the FBI lab for DNA and anthropological analysis. The FBI was then able to create "3D facial approximation images" from the skull.
In April of 2024, the ISP SAKI team offered to further assist PCSO with the identification. However, it wasn't until May of 2025 that the skull was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
“Through the Idaho SAKI program, we were able to offer both forensic and investigative support that ultimately helped give a name back to Ms. Pickett and provided her family with some long-awaited answers.” - Daren Boyd, ISP SAKI Site Coordinator.
Once it was entered into the NamUs database, two potential matches surfaced. One was excluded after DNA analysis, while the other match was confirmed via dental records. The positive match was Lesiah Olivia Pickett.
Colonel Bill Gardiner with ISP praised the collaboration between agencies that led to the identification, saying, "This case is a testament to what dedicated investigators and forensic professionals can accomplish when they work together across agencies and jurisdictions."
However, investigators are asking for the public's continued help in determining the cause of Lesiah Pickett's death. If you think you saw Pickett after October 20, 2019, contact the Power County Sheriff's Office at 208-226-2311.
