Missing mayor's remains identified 20 years after disappearance

Skeletal remains recovered in 2006 were identified last year by a private laboratory as former Fossil, Oregon mayor Clarence Edwin Asher, resolving his disappearance while crabbing in 2006; his family has since laid his remains to rest.

Authorities have confirmed the identity of skeletal remains tied to the 2006 disappearance of Clarence Edwin Asher, a former mayor of Fossil, Oregon. Asher went missing in September 2006 while crabbing in Tillamook Bay and was not found at the time. Skeletal remains that washed ashore in 2006 at Taholah on the Quinault Indian Reservation were kept as an unidentified Grays Harbor County John Doe. Advances in DNA testing prompted the coroner's office to send a sample to a private laboratory, which developed a profile that produced investigative leads and a family match. Known details: - Clarence Edwin Asher disappeared in September 2006 while crabbing in Tillamook Bay. - Skeletal remains recovered in 2006 on the shore of Taholah were held as an unidentified Grays Harbor County John Doe. - Last year the coroner's office submitted DNA from the evidence to a private laboratory that used forensic-grade sequencing and genetic genealogy. - Investigators matched the DNA to surviving relatives and identified the remains as Asher. - Officials reported the initial suspicion — that he had an accident while crabbing and drowned — as the likely circumstance of death, and the family has since laid his remains to rest. Summary: The identification resolved nearly 20 years of uncertainty for Asher's family and allowed them to bury his remains. Officials reported the death as an accidental drowning while crabbing. Undetermined at this time.