Missing California Teenager, Tatiana Dugger, Discovered Dead by Hiker

After her family reported her missing months ago, a 19-year-old Black woman’s body was found last week in Northern California authorities have reported.

According to a Facebook post by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, Tatiana Dugger, 19, was found by a hiker in Siskiyou County in a remote area on federal land about 8 miles outside Weed.

“On Sunday, March 28, 2021, at about 11:45 AM, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) received a report from a hiker that a deceased person was located on United States Forest Service (USFS) land near US Route 97 and Juniper Terrace (approximately 8 miles northeast from Weed, California). SCSO Detectives, USFS Law Enforcement Officers, California Highway Patrol Officers, and personnel from the Department of Justice responded to the location. The deceased person was female and was located in a remote area off the roadway, and she appeared to have been there for an extended period of time.

“On Thursday, April 1, 2021, an autopsy was performed on the deceased female. Due to some of the known facts up to that point, Butte County Detectives joined the Siskiyou County Major Crimes Unit at the autopsy. Using a rapid DNA identification process, the deceased female was positively identified by DNA as Tatiana Dugger, age 19, of Oroville, California. Tatiana’s family reported her missing from the Oakland, California area on January 9, 2021. This is an ongoing investigation and additional circumstances surrounding Tatiana’s death will not be released at this time.”

According to SFGate, Dugger had once lived in Oroville before she moved to Los Angeles right before she disappeared. She had been on a trip to Oakland when family members said they lost contact with her. When she didn’t return to her hotel room on January 9, her family stated that phone calls directed to her went straight to voicemail and she wasn’t active on her social media accounts.