Body Discovered In Washington Fire Identified

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Sonora, CA – The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office has identified the body found inside the Washington Fire footprint.

The deceased is Robert Frank Baiko of Sonora, and his next of kin has been notified, according to sheriff’s officials. As we reported here on August 26, the one-year anniversary of the blaze, the body was still being examined by “the anthropology department and in the process of being identified,” disclosed sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley Boujikian.

Two days after the Washington Fire ignited, on August 28th of last year at about 4 p.m., human remains were located in the area of Golden Dove Lane, as detailed here. Bouhikian noted that further “investigation determined the remains appeared to have been there before the Washington fire occurred. Detectives contacted the Chico State University Anthropology Division for assistance in processing the scene and identifying the human remains. Chico State University anthropologists collected the remains to attempt identification.”

In July of this year, the anthropologist reported they were unable to make an identification of the remains due to thermal damage from the fire. At that time, the remains were sent to the Department of Justice Lab for additional DNA analysis. Then in November, after DNA testing and analysis, the body was identified as Baiko. Now sheriff’s officials are turning to the public for information regarding his death. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Investigations Division at 209-533-5815.