Skeleton Found on Washington State Beach Identified as Missing Oregon Mayor

The skeletal remains that washed ashore on a remote Washington State beach nearly two decades ago have been positively identified as those of a former Oregon mayor who vanished during a fishing trip in 2006, finally closing a long-running missing persons case, as reported by The New York Post.

Authorities confirmed that the remains belong to Clarence Edwin Asher, a former mayor of Fossil, Oregon, who disappeared at age 72 while fishing at Tillamook Bay.

Asher, often known as “Ed,” was presumed dead after failing to return from the trip, prompting a search by the U.S. Coast Guard that was suspended on Sept. 6, 2006, one day after he vanished, according to contemporaneous reporting by The Astorian.

At the time, authorities concluded that Asher had drowned. Investigators cited statements from his wife indicating that he did not wear a life jacket and did not know how to swim.

Clarence “Ed” Asher, former mayor of Fossil, Oregon, disappeared in Sept 2006 during a fishing trip at Tillamook Bay. He couldn’t swim and wasn’t wearing a lifejacket, so drowning was presumed. His skeleton washed ashore 2 months later on a Washington beach, 185 miles north. It… pic.twitter.com/gxR8buh8d3

— Mr Commonsense (@fopminui) January 14, 2026

Despite the Coast Guard’s extensive efforts, no trace of Asher was located in Oregon waters.

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Two months later, in November 2006, a collection of skeletal remains was discovered along the shoreline near Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Washington State, approximately 185 miles north of Tillamook Bay.

The discovery triggered an investigation by the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and the Grays Harbor County Coroner’s Office, but the remains could not be identified at the time.

Lacking meaningful leads, the remains were cataloged in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as Grays Harbor County John Doe.

Over time, the case went cold, and the remains were eventually buried as newer cases accumulated.

The breakthrough came nearly 20 years later. In 2025, forensic evidence from the case was submitted to Othram, a Texas-based genetic genealogy firm known for identifying unidentified human remains.

Using advanced DNA analysis, Othram created a detailed genetic profile and matched it with a DNA sample provided by one of Asher’s relatives, definitively identifying the remains as Fossil’s former mayor.

Asher’s wife, Helen Asher, died in 2018 at age 85 following a prolonged battle with cancer.

According to her obituary, Ed Asher’s disappearance and presumed death left “a large hole in Helen’s heart,” ultimately leading her to return to Condon, Oregon, where the couple had married in 1986.

Helen had previously been widowed in 1980 after her first husband of 20 years passed away. Asher had also been married before, though records do not clarify whether he was widowed at that time.

The couple shared a large blended family. Obituaries note that they had 21 grandchildren and, by the time Helen passed away, 17 great-grandchildren.

Asher was a well-known figure in Fossil and spent decades serving the small community. He worked as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone Company for nearly 50 years while also operating the Asher Variety Store.

In addition, he volunteered as a local firefighter and ambulance driver and served a brief term as Fossil’s mayor before retiring in 1995.

With the identification now complete, a mystery that lingered for nearly two decades has been resolved, bringing long-delayed answers to Asher’s family and the small Oregon town he served for much of his life.

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