Skeletal remains that washed up on a Washington beach have been identified as those of a former Oregon mayor who vanished in 2006, ending a 20-year mystery with the help of genetic genealogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edwin Asher, who previously was mayor of Fossil, Oregon, disappeared while he was crabbing in Tillamook Bay, on the northwest coast of Oregon, on Sept. 5, 2006, the Grays Harbor County coroner and Othram, a forensic genetic genealogy lab, said in news releases this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was presumed to have drowned and was legally declared dead that same year, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2006, skeletal remains washed ashore in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Grays Harbor County, Washington, the coroner’s office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taholah is about 124 miles north of Tillamook Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The local sheriff\u2019s and coroner\u2019s offices responded and collected evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was determined the remains were those of a man estimated to 20 to 60 years old or older, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and an estimated 170 to 180 pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the man was never identified, and he became known as the “Grays Harbor County John Doe (2006).”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, the Grays Harbor Coroner\u2019s Office and the King County medical examiner submitted forensic evidence to Othram to try to identify John Doe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists used genome sequencing to build a DNA profile for the man and genetic genealogy search to develop \u201cnew investigative leads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigators were led to potential relatives of the man, and reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared with those of John Doe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, it led to a positive identification: Grays Harbor John Doe was Clarence Edwin \u201cEd\u201d Asher, born April 2, 1934.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was 72 when he died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asher was born in Salem and raised in Astoria, and in 1952 he moved to Fossil, where he was a lineman technician for the Fossil Telephone Co. until he retired in 1995, according to his obituary. He also opened his own shop, Asher\u2019s Variety Store, in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He loved antique cars, fishing and boating, the obituary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He had served as mayor and also volunteered as a local fireman and ambulance driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was survived by his wife of over 20 years, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. NBC News has reached out to the city of Fossil for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forensic genetic genealogy has grown in popularity in recent years and has helped solve decades-old cold cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n