Skeletal remains spotted on the shores of a Washington beach about 20 years ago belong to an Oregon man who went missing a few months before the discovery was made, a DNA analysis has confirmed. The remains found on a beach in Taholah, in Grays Harbor County, in November 2006 were identified as 72-year-old Clarence Edwin "Ed" Asher, the Grays Harbor Coroner's Office said in a news release on Tuesday, January 13. Asher, a former mayor of Fossil, Oregon, disappeared in September 2006, when investigators believe he "drowned while crabbing" in Tillamook Bay, located along the central coast of Oregon, according to the coroner's office. After his remains were initially found in Taholah, a village a part of the Quinault Indian Reservation in Washington, Grays Harbor County investigators knew the remains were of an adult man, the coroner's office said. But they were unable to make a positive identification in 2006. As a result, the case of "Grays Harbor County John Doe" was logged into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, according to investigators. Man Arrested in 1997 Murder of Woman Killed at California Home: Police The case was later revisited by the county coroner's office and the King County Medical Examiner's Office in Washington in 2025. That is when investigators sent DNA evidence to Othram, a forensic technology company dedicated to helping authorities solve cold cases. Scientists with Othram were able to build a DNA profile in the case, leading the company's genetic genealogy team to pursue "new investigative leads," the coroner's office said. Investigators were ultimately led to Asher's possible family members, including one relative who gave a sample of their DNA, according to the coroner's office. Then, the relative's DNA was compared with Asher's DNA profile, resulting in a positive identification of his remains, the coroner's office said. In Washington, Asher is the 43rd person who has been identified with the help of Othram's technology, according to the company. Asher was born in Salem, Oregon on April 2, 1934 and grew up in Astoria, the coroner's office said. Cops Make Arrest in Death of Woman Found on Florida Beach After Christmas He later moved to Fossil in 1952 and worked as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone company, according to investigators. He established Asher's Variety Store in the city and previously served as its mayor. While mayor, Asher was also active in the community by volunteering as a fireman and ambulance driver, according to his online obituary published by Oregon Live. "Loves in Ed's life included his wife of over 20 years, Helen, their large family, antique cars, fishing, boating, hunting, black labs, cooking and RVing," reads the obituary. Asher was survived by his wife, his three children, two stepsons, and other loved ones, according to the obituary. He also had 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The Grays Harbor Coroner's Office said funding secured by Governor Bob Ferguson, Attorney General Nick Brown and the state's legislature helped "enable forensic genetic genealogy testing" in Asher's case. Other Washington cases Othram helped authorities solve include the cold case murder of 9-year-old Candice Rogers, the identification of Laurie Krage, whose skeletal remains were found in 1997 after she was killed, and the identification of William "Bill" Nelson Church, who was killed in 1978.