The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday it is investigating Jackson snowboarder Ben Bradley’s death as a homicide.

The Sheriff’s Office, along with other regional law enforcement departments have been investigating the case since Bradley’s body was found in the Red Desert in southwest Wyoming on Oct. 1. Bradley had disappeared about four months earlier while hitchhiking on June 2 from Grand County, Colo., to Jackson for a snowboarding trip.

The Sheriff’s Office also announced Wednesday that Bradley’s custom-made Never Summer split snowboard is missing.

Bradley, an easy-going snowboarder and avid adventurer, hitchhiked from his summer home in Grand County as far as Rock Springs on June 2, where he called his Jackson friends from his cell phone at 8:58 p.m., saying he was two hours away from Pinedale. Law enforcement later traced the call to the intersection of Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 191, also known as Elk Street, a busy intersection lined with motels, fast food joints, gas stations and car dealerships.

He was planning to spend the weekend with friends in Jackson carving summer turns on Rendezvous Mountain, where he spent last winter making snow for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Friends have speculated how Bradley died, but law enforcement would not comment.

“I’m not even going to say anything,” Capt. Mike Dayton said Friday about the cause of death.

Dayton was careful not to divulge information that could potentially impede investigations, which continue.

He reiterated earlier statements that law enforcement is following several leads. He also said hitchhiking is a dangerous activity, to both the hitchhiker and those who pick them up.

“Obviously, the case we’re talking about illustrates the danger to the hitchhiker,” Dayton said.

The blue-eyed, brown-haired Bradley, originally from Cayucos, Calif., was a 28-year-old, who disappeared two days before his 29th birthday. He was 6 feet 3 inches and weighed 160 pounds.

When he disappeared, he was dressed in brown wool cargo-pocket pants, a blue hooded sweatshirt and a grey T-shirt.

Bradley’s snowboard had been custom-made into a “one-of-a-kind” splitboard, which can be taken apart lengthwise and made into two short skis for uphill climbing, then reassembled into a snowboard for downhill turns.

Snowboarders sometimes buy snowboards from the manufacturer, saw them in half and attach bindings that will work on both the two skis for uphill climbing and also on the reassembled snowboard for riding. They do this to ascend slopes more easily than hiking while carrying their boards on their backs.

Bradley’s splitboard has a black bottom with the red, dripping letters “NS” painted on it. The upper side is blue with a white mountain scene.

Anyone with information on Bradley or the missing snowboard should contact the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at 307-872-6350, the Rock Springs or Green River Police Departments or local law enforcement.