The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office on Tuesday confirmed that the body found in the wreckage of a pickup truck off Highway 154 earlier this month was a man who had been missing since March 2012.

The victim was identified as Timothy Goodwin, 55, of Santa Barbara, who was reported missing in Santa Barbara County, said Kelly Hoover, a sheriff spokeswoman.

His death is still under investigation, and no further details were being released, she said.

A wrecked pickup truck registered under Goodwin’s name was spotted 200-300 feet over the side of Painted Cave Road at about 1 p.m. on July 4 by a Santa Barbara County helicopter, according to authorities.

A county sheriff’s deputy hiked down to the white Chevy pickup, and radioed back to dispatch that it looked like it had been there for some time, “and there appears to be remains” in the vehicle.

CHP Sgt. Andrew Chapman confirmed at the scene that remains had been found, and were likely related to a missing-persons case from March 2012.

A county Search & Rescue team worked for hours to retrieve the wreckage from below the steep hill, along with a tow truck from Santa Barbara Towing.

— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.