After a 20-year mystery, the identity of body that washed up on a Washington State beach has finally been identified.
The human remains washed ashore in 2006, sparking widespread confusion and a mystery that has only just been solved.
Revolutionary DNA technology came to the rescue
Back in 2006, the skeletal remains of a human washed up on the Pacific coast of the USA.
It has now been finally ascertained that those remains are that of Clarence Edwin ‘Ed’ Asher, a former mayor from Oregon who was presumed to have drowned on a fishing trip.
Asher went missing while out on a trip in Tillamook Bay, a coastal inlet in Oregon.
At the time of his disappearance in 2006, a significant Coast Guard operation took place, but was suspended just a day later, on September 6 of that year.
The former mayor of the town of Fossil was 72 years old at the time of his disappearance.
The authorities presumed that he had drowned after his wife told them that he couldn’t swim and wasn’t in the habit of wearing a life jacket.
Then, in November 2006, some skeletal remains washed ashore at Taholah, a small unincorporated village on a Quinault Indian Reservation some 185 miles to the north of where he went missing.
Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office and the local coroners tried to identify the remains, but with no success.
So, they were listed with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and eventually just became lost the queue of missing persons.
Until a revolutionary DNA testing lab stepped in…
Clarence Edwin Asher’s remains were eventually identified
In 2025, some forensic evidence was sent to Othram Labs in Texas, a company that is doing amazing things in DNA work.
They managed to create a profile, which eventually led them to determine that the remains were that of Asher.
Sadly, it was too late for his wife Helen, who died aged 85 in 2018, having had a ‘large hole’ left in her heart by his disappearance.
Asher was a legend in his local area, dedicating his life to the people of Fossil.
After working as a lineman for the local telephone company, as well as owning a variety store and volunteering as a fireman and ambulance driver, he became the mayor of the town before retiring in 1995.
He left behind 21 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, according to his wife’s obituary.