CLALLAM BAY — Authorities continued their investigation Wednesday into the identity of a man whose body washed up on a beach 16 miles east of Clallam Bay off state Highway 112.
A Shelton couple walking the rocky coastline near Deep Creek between Joyce and Pillar Point found the corpse a half-mile east of Milepost 35 on Highway 112 and reported the discovery at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday, Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ed Anderson said.
The man had a fishing bib, was wearing rubber boots and a life vest, and was wearing what appeared to be a University of Victoria sweatshirt, Anderson said.
The man had short hair, was under 6 feet tall and was in his 30s or 40s.
“It’s a bit of a mystery right now,” Anderson said.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to figure out who he was so the family out there can get some closure.”
Chief Criminal Deputy Brian King said there was no sign of foul play.
The man was wearing a blue sweatshirt with the acronym “UVIC,” shorts and “rain gear like he’d been fishing,” Anderson said.
“One would think he probably was fishing or had some activity going on around the water there.
“I’m assuming he was wearing the bib when he went in the water.
“He was probably coming off a boat or something.”
Salmon fishing season opened Sunday in the area where the body was found.
King said there were no U.S. reports of missing persons who matched the man’s description or of capsized boats in the area.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to identify the man, King said.
The RCMP has several open missing-persons cases originating in and around Vancouver Island and inland B.C.
“We are looking at a couple [of cases] based on the UVIC” sweatshirt, King said.
“We know of one fisherman on the Fraser River in Canada who was net fishing who was wearing a life jacket,” he said.
“There were reports of a capsized boat, we don’t know when that occurred, around Tofino.
“There’s just more work to be done before we can link it to any of those cases.”
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service is assisting in the investigation, King said.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on the man.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
