Remains found near downtown Olympia appear to belong to a man in his 40s, Coroner says
The human skeletal remains discovered in Olympia Tuesday near Union Avenue Southeast and Plum Street appear to belong to a Native American, Asian, or Hispanic man in his 40s, the Thurston County Coroner said Wednesday.
Police found the remains about 100 yards south of Union Avenue, along the railroad tracks, after two people walking in the area reported smelling a strong odor earlier on Tuesday.
They were in “an advanced state of decomposition,” Coroner Gary Warnock said, and his office’s determinations were made by comparing them with other skeletal remains and certain characteristics of the some of the bones.
His office completed its visual exam Tuesday night, Warnock said. The remains were transported to King County Wednesday morning for a more in-depth exam that will include conducting X-rays, examining any clothing, and looking for signs of trauma, he said.
An anthropologist in the King County Medical Examiner’s Office does this sort of work for coroners across the state, Warnock explained. The timeline may vary, but Warnock said his office could have preliminary findings as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
Olympia Police Department is treating the suspicious death as a homicide until it can say something otherwise, according to a department spokesperson.
At the scene where the remains were found, Olympia Police detectives on Wednesday were still combing for evidence, Lt. Paul Lower said.
The department was using search and rescue teams and cadaver dogs to conduct a grid search, Lt. Paul Lower said, and a detective crew planned to comb through the area inch-by-inch. Detectives were on scene late into Tuesday night, he said, but had to wait for daylight to do more methodical searching.
Examples of potential evidence include debris, notes, mail, food that may hold DNA, odd footprints near the remains, or a sign of a disturbance in the nearby woods, Lower explained.
He expected detectives would be at the scene most of the day Wednesday.
Once detectives finish processing the scene, the department will reach out in the community to ask questions of people who live in that area, according to Lower.
Anyone with information about this matter is asked to call Olympia Police Department’s general line at 360-753-8300.
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 11:37 AM.
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