LAPUSH — A body found on the beach southwest of Lake Ozette last week has been identified as that of a Westport-area fisherman who disappeared last month, Olympic National Park said Saturday.
Jerome Lee Green Jr., 45, was a Quinault tribal member who had been missing since April 17, said Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
Green’s death has been ruled an accidental drowning by the Clallam County coroner, Maynes added.
It is suspected that he fell overboard at sea.
Green’s body was found by a hiker about 9 a.m. Wednesday near the Norwegian Memorial north of Rialto Beach, which starts at the mouth of the Quillayute River just north of LaPush.
Olympic National Park staff were contacted about 3 p.m. Wednesday after the hiker made his way back to Rialto Beach.
A ranger was dispatched to hike up the beach, and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flew over the area.
The body was removed Thursday morning and an autopsy was performed Friday by a Clallam County coroner’s official.
Green was reported overdue on April 17 when he failed to return from a solo fishing trip on his crab boat, Huntress.
The Coast Guard found Green’s boat drifting on autopilot about 16 miles southwest of Grays Harbor near Willapa Harbor.
The search for Green was called off after two days.