Remains found last month in Apple Valley, California have been identified as belonging to Krystie Stuart, a local woman missing since March of 2015, according to a Saturday press release by the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department.

Krystie Stuart Don Stuart

“On January 24, 2019, human remains were located by two hunters in the county area of Apple Valley,” the release said. Detectives from the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station and investigators from the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Division responded to the scene to recover the remains.

On Wednesday, January 30, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office confirmed the remains were of Krystie. Two days later, authorities canvassing an area northeast of where the remains had been found, located additional remains also belonging to Krystie. Those remains are now in the possession of the San Bernardino County Coroner’s Division for further investigation, the press release says.

In a post on the Help Find Krystie Stuart Facebook page, Krystie’s family expressed their devastation.

“It is with great sadness we learned that Krystie's partial remains were found,” the post read. “[Krystie’s parents] received a call from the Detective asking them to come down to the station. Once they got there, they were told a jawbone was found, which had been positively ID through dental records. It was Krystie.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department press release says a cause of death has yet to be determined.

Krystie Stuart Don Stuart

As Dateline has previously reported, Krystie Stuart, 29, was last seen leaving a dentist appointment on March 3, 2015 in Apple Valley, where she lived. She was supposed to go over to a friend’s house right after the appointment, but she never arrived.

After not hearing from their daughter later that night or the following day, Krystie’s parents Don and Ginger began calling her friends from church to see if anyone knew where Krystie was. Nobody had heard from her. The next morning, Don and Ginger called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office to report their daughter missing.

A few days later, on March 8, 2015, Krystie’s “pickup was located, unoccupied, in the desert area of north Apple Valley,” a press release from the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Department said. The release said investigators were processing the vehicle but did not believe foul play was involved.

Saturday’s press release says Krystie’s remains were found approximately 2.5 miles from where her truck was located.

If you have any information on Krystie’s case, please contact Detective Jason Grantham at the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station, Lucerne Valley Sub-Station, (760) 248-7655. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report information to WeTip by calling 1-800-78-CRIME, or by accessing the website at www.wetip.com.