A disappearance that haunted a small Oregon town for two decades has finally been resolved after a skeleton washed ashore hundreds of miles away was formally identified. Clarence Edwin 'Ed' Asher, a former mayor of Fossil, Oregon, vanished during a fishing trip in Tillamook Bay in early September 2006. He was 72 years old at the time and was later presumed to have drowned after an extensive search failed to locate him.
Nearly 20 years later, advances in forensic genealogy have confirmed that skeletal remains found in Washington state belonged to Asher, finally closing a long-running missing persons case.
The Disappearance At Tillamook Bay
Asher went missing while fishing in Tillamook Bay, prompting an immediate response from authorities. The United States Coast Guard launched a large-scale search that continued until it was suspended on 6 September 2006, one day after his disappearance, according to contemporaneous reporting by The Astorian.
Investigators concluded that Asher had likely drowned after learning from his wife that he did not know how to swim and was not wearing a lifejacket at the time.
Skeleton washed ashore on Washington beach identified as former Oregon mayor who disappeared 20 years ago pic.twitter.com/ZwobZy6ixF
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) January 14, 2026
Discovery Of Skeletal Remains In Washington
In November 2006, several months after Asher vanished, a collection of skeletal remains was discovered on a beach in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation in Washington state. The location was roughly 185 miles north of Tillamook Bay, making an immediate connection to the Oregon disappearance unclear.
The Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Office and Coroner's Office attempted to identify the remains but were unable to find meaningful leads. With no confirmed identity, the remains were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as Grays Harbor County John Doe.
Over time, the case became one of many unresolved files, and the remains were eventually buried as other investigations took priority. For years, Asher's disappearance and the unidentified skeleton remained separate threads with no clear link between them.
Breakthrough Through Genetic Genealogy and Family History
In 2025, the case was reopened using modern forensic methods, with evidence submitted to Othram, a Texas-based genetic genealogy company that specialises in missing persons cases. Othram created a detailed DNA profile from the skeletal remains and compared it with genetic material provided by one of Asher's relatives.
The company was then able to confirm that the remains belonged to Ed Asher, formally identifying the former mayor nearly two decades after his presumed death.
Asher's wife, Helen, lived for years without certainty over her husband's fate and died in 2018 at the age of 85 following a long battle with cancer. Her obituary stated that Asher's sudden disappearance left 'a large hole in Helen's heart' and prompted her to return to Condon, Oregon, where the couple had married in 1986. Helen had previously been widowed after the death of her first husband in 1980, following a 20-year marriage.
What We Know Now
Authorities have confirmed that Asher's death was consistent with the original assumption that he drowned during the 2006 fishing trip. There has been no indication of foul play, and the identification has brought formal closure to a case that lingered for years.
Asher was widely regarded as a local figure who devoted much of his life to the town of Fossil. He worked as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone Company for nearly 50 years, while also operating the Asher Variety Store and volunteering as a local fireman and ambulance driver. He served a brief term as mayor before retiring in 1995, leaving behind a record of public service remembered by residents.
