Carlos Baltazar, 35, of La Puente, was last seen by his family on Sept. 20, 2020. He reportedly had gone to the barracks of his Forest Service crew to help arrange the funeral of Charlie Morton, the Hotshot squad boss who died Sept. 17 while fighting the El Dorado Fire.

For more than four years, firefighter Carlos Baltazar has been missing, after a mysterious disappearance following the death of his fire chief. Now, remains found in October in a remote part of the San Bernardino Mountains have been identified as those of the 35-year-old.

Human remains found by a hunter last fall have been identified as a firefighter missing since 2020, California deputies say. The remains found near Cactus Flats in October belonged to Carlos Baltazar, a firefighter with the Big Bear Hotshots, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 11 news release.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Department has positively identified the human remains found near Big Bear as those of missing firefighter Carlos Baltazar. Baltazar, a Big Bear Hotshot, was last seen Sept. 20, 2020, the same time the El Dorado Fire was burning in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The remains have now been positively identified through DNA analysis as those of Carlos Baltazar, a California firefighter missing since 2020.

Remains found late last year in the San Bernardino Mountains have been positively identified as Carlos Baltazar, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter who went missing during the deadly El Dorado Fire

Remains found late last year in the San Bernardino Mountains have been positively identified as Carlos Baltazar, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter who went missing during the deadly El Dorado fire in 2020,