A skeleton that washed ashore on a Washington state beach nearly two decades ago has now been positively identified as Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, a former small-town mayor from Oregon who vanished during a fishing trip in 2006 and was long presumed drowned.
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Asher disappeared in September 2006 while fishing in Tillamook Bay along the Oregon coast. The 72-year-old, who had served as mayor of Fossil, Oregon, was reported missing after failing to return from the trip. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an extensive search but suspended efforts the following day, concluding that Asher had likely drowned.
Investigators at the time said Asher did not know how to swim and was not wearing a life jacket, according to statements from his wife. With no body recovered, his disappearance remained unresolved, leaving family and community members without answers.
Clarence Edwin Asher
Two months later, in November 2006, skeletal remains were discovered on a beach near Taholah, a village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Washington, roughly 185 miles north of Tillamook Bay. Despite efforts by the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and coroner, authorities were unable to identify the remains, and the case was eventually logged as a John Doe in a national database.
The mystery was finally solved in 2025 when the remains were sent to Othram, a Texas-based genetic genealogy company specializing in cold cases. Using advanced DNA analysis and a sample provided by a relative, investigators were able to confirm the remains belonged to Asher, bringing closure to a case that had lingered for nearly 19 years.
Asher was a well-known figure in Fossil, where he worked nearly five decades as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone Company, operated a local variety store, volunteered as a firefighter and ambulance driver, and served a brief term as mayor before retiring in 1995. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, while his wife, Helen, who mourned his disappearance for years, died in 2018.[/read]