Detectives with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed that human remains were discovered inside a snow boot at Eldora Mountain Resort on Wednesday afternoon.

Cmdr. Mike Wagner said that detectives responded to the resort on Wednesday afternoon when an employee at the resort called police after finding a boot in a clearing near the base of the mountain.

“The boot was wet and weathered,” Wagner said. “The snow pack had recently melted.”

Wagner said that detectives searched the area, but as of 9 p.m. had not located any additional remains and called off the search for the day but will resume their search in the morning.

He added that detectives don’t know how long the remains had been in the clearing. The sheriff’s office is working with the Boulder County Coroner’s Office in an effort to identify the remains.

Personnel from Nederland Fire Protection District, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and Eldora Mountain Resort participated in the search. Front Range Rescue Dogs aided in the search, according to the sheriff’s office.

Wagner said detectives are looking into whether the remains belong to Ryder Johnson, a 20-year-old Eldora employee who was last seen on Jan. 17, but they are also looking at all of the missing person cases they currently have.

“It’s too early to tell either way if it is related,” Wagner said. “It is one of the things we are looking at, but it’s way early to tell.”

John Bear: 303-473-1355, bearj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/johnbearwithme