Lilac Shirt Found in Jungle May Belong to Missing American

Deep in the Guatemalan jungle, human remains and a lilac shirt have surfaced, possibly solving the mysterious disappearance of a US bird-watcher lost for more than two years near the ancient city of Tikal. The shirt, sandals, and shorts found along with the bones match what Raymond Vincent Ashcroft, 66, was last seen wearing, per a rep from the attorney general's office.

Ashcroft disappeared in February 2023 while on a bird-watching trip with a group that was visiting the ruins at Tikal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that CBS News describes as "one of the most important Mayan archaeological complexes," a place inhabited from the sixth century BC to the 10th century AD. On the day he vanished, Ashcroft reportedly left the group to return to his hotel in the Tikal National Park, but he never arrived. His wife, who had remained with the group to take photos of an alligator and some birds, alerted authorities when he didn't return to their room, reports the BBC.

Search efforts began within 30 minutes of him leaving the group, with teams and sniffer dogs scouring the park's thick vegetation but finding no trace of him. Weeks later, Interpol issued a missing-person yellow notice, yet no leads surfaced until this week, when villagers came across the remains roughly 9 miles from the site. Officials say a DNA test will confirm the identity.