GRAYS HARBOR, Wash. — After nearly two decades of mystery, the remains of a man found in Grays Harbor County have been identified.
The breakthrough came through the collaborative efforts of the Grays Harbor County Coroner’s Office, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, and Othram, a forensic DNA company based in Texas.
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In November 2006, skeletal remains were discovered on a beach in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation.
Despite extensive investigations by the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office, the remains could not be identified and were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as Grays Harbor County John Doe (2006).
In 2025, forensic evidence was submitted to Othram, where scientists developed a DNA extract and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to create a comprehensive DNA profile.
This profile was instrumental in a genetic genealogy search that led investigators to potential relatives of the unidentified man.
A reference DNA sample from a relative confirmed the man’s identity as Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, born in 1934.
Ed Asher, who was declared legally dead in 2006 after being presumed drowned while crabbing in Tillamook Bay, was born in Salem and raised in Astoria, Oregon.
He moved to Fossil, Oregon, in 1952, where he worked as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone Company until his retirement in 1995. Asher also opened Asher’s Variety Store in 1965 and served as the mayor of Fossil. He was 72 at the time of his death.
The identification of Ed Asher marks the 43rd case in Washington where officials have used Othram’s technology to identify an individual.
This achievement was made possible by critical funding from Gov. Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown, and the Washington State Legislature.
