Human remains discovered on a remote Washington beach nearly two decades ago have been positively identified as those of Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, a former mayor of Fossil, Oregon.
Skeletal remains were found in November 2006 on a beach in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Grays Harbor County, Washington, two months after Asher, then 72 years old, went missing while out crabbing in Tillamook Bay.
Authorities at the time presumed he had drowned, and he was declared legally dead.
However, “The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and Coroner’s Office worked to identify the remains, but after a lengthy investigation and no results, the person became known as Grays Harbor County John Doe,” according to a report from ABC 7.
The case went cold, but in 2025, forensic evidence was sent to a laboratory in Texas.
The Texas scientists extracted DNA and created a genetic profile, which was matched against DNA samples from Asher’s relatives using genetic genealogy techniques.
The technology, developed by Othram, has now solved 43 cases in Washington State alone.
Officials are encouraging people who have taken DNA tests, like 23 and Me, to join the DNASolves database to help expand the pool of data for future identifications in similar unsolved cases.
ABC 7 reports:
Critical funding to enable forensic genetic genealogy testing in this case was made possible by Governor Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, and the Washington State Legislature. We are grateful for their support in providing this funding.
Individuals who have taken a consumer DNA test can aid ongoing forensic investigations by joining the [DNASolves database] Expanding the pool of available DNA data increases the likelihood of successful identifications, helping to reunite families with their missing loved ones and resolve cases that have remained unsolved for years.
Critics of these DNA tests have cited privacy concerns for themselves and their relatives.
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