Twisp police chief’s dog finds human skull

The family dog of a Methow Valley police chief brought home a human skull scavenged from the remains of a man missing for two years. Twisp Police Chief Paul Budrow received the alarming call from his family around noon on April 12 and drove home with a couple of deputies to investigate. The Budrow family lives about four miles outside Twisp. The three lawmen searched along the banks of the nearby Methow River and found the rest of the remains thought to be that of 21-year-old Nicholas A. Tortora, according to a press release from Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers. The young man had been missing since June 3, 2012, when his family reported that he was despondent and left. The search for Tortora included tracking “pings” from his cell phone that showed he may have been in the mountainous area about five miles from where his remains were found. Instead his remains were within a half-mile of his family’s home. Foul play is not suspected, according to Okanogan authorities.