Remains found on Washington beach 20 years ago ID’d as former mayor
Saleen Martin – USA TODAY
Remains found on a beach in southwestern Washington in 2006 have been identified through DNA analysis as a former Oregon mayor who authorities think drowned while crabbing.
The remains were identified as Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, 72, according to Othram, a Texas-based organization specializing in DNA analysis and forensic genetic genealogy. Asher went crabbing on Sept. 5, 2006, in Tillamook Bay, before his disappearance, the organization stated.
Before identifying Asher, Othram said the mystery surrounding his identity began when someone found skeletal remains in November 2006 on a beach in Washington state. Authorities initially estimated the man to be between 20 and 60 years old, standing around 5 feet 9 inches tall, Othram said. Posts shared on social media and Crime Solvers Central show that his body was found on the beach in a “moderately advanced level of postmortem decomposition.”
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The man was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), known only as Grays Harbor County John Doe (2006).
Here’s how officials and Othram helped Grays Harbor County John Doe regain his name.
Where exactly were the remains found?
On Sept. 5, 2006, a caller reached out to the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office’s marine unit about a missing boater, Tillamook County Sheriff Joshua Brown confirmed to USA TODAY. Per the U.S. Coast Guard’s request, sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene, as someone found the boat running idly with the shift handle in neutral, according to Brown.
The boat’s marine radio was working fine, and another radio was playing music, Brown said, adding that there was one crab pot on the vessel. Officials learned the missing boater was Asher, according to the sheriff. Throughout the night and into the following day, the sheriff’s office’s marine patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard and Fire and Rescue personnel searched for Asher to no avail, Brown added.
Nearly three weeks after Asher vanished in 2006, Oregon State Police confirmed that Asher’s pants and wallet were found on a beach in Lincoln County, south of Tillamook Bay, Brown said. The pants washed back out to sea; however, his wallet, containing his ID, was given to the police. All belongings were released by the district attorney and returned to his family, according to Brown.
The unidentified skeletal remains were found two months after Asher went missing on a beach in Taholah, a village on a Pacific coast Indian reservation, according to Othram. The beach is part of Grays Harbor County, north of the bay he vanished from.
Despite several attempts to identify the man, officials were unsuccessful. In 2025, 19 years after the skeletal remains were found, the Grays Harbor County Coroner’s Office teamed up with officials in another county, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The offices submitted forensic evidence to Othram, where scientists used advanced DNA testing to identify the man. The scientists first had to develop a DNA extract from the evidence collected at the beach, then they used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a DNA profile for the man.
According to Othram, the company’s forensic genetic genealogy team conducted a genetic genealogy search and passed new leads to investigators. These new leads helped investigators locate relatives of the man, which then allowed them to compare DNA from these family members to the man’s DNA profile.
The DNA matched, identifying the man as Asher, Othram said.
Othram added that Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, and the Washington State Legislature helped secure funding to cover the research that led to Asher’s identification.
Who was Clarence Edwin ‘Ed’ Asher?
Asher was declared legally dead in 2006 after officials determined he likely drowned while crabbing in Tillamook Bay.
According to Asher’s online obituary, he was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1934. He moved to Fossil in eastern Oregon in 1952.
He worked as a lineman technician for the Fossil Telephone Company until retiring in 1995. During this period, he also opened Asher’s Variety Store in 1965. He served as mayor of Fossil from 1970 to 1978, the city confirmed to USA TODAY on Jan. 15.
He was married for over 20 years and loved antique cars, fishing, boating, hunting, black labs, cooking and RVing, his family wrote in his obituary. He also volunteered as a local fireman and ambulance driver.
When he died in 2006, he left behind his wife, as well as three children, multiple stepchildren, 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
This story has been updated to add information.
