DUNGENESS — Identification of the torso that washed ashore Sept. 16 in Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge is awaiting action by state crime lab technicians, said Deputy Coroner Supervisor Nathan Millett on Friday.
Millett, who had expected results this week, said he doesn’t know the reason for the delay.
“I really don’t know why it is taking so long. I sent them a couple of days ago,” he said.
Officials suspect the body may be from a seaplane that crashed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca off Whidbey Island on Sept. 4, killing 10.
It is the lead they are pursuing to understand how the torso came to be on the seaward side of Dungeness Spit.
The State Patrol has fingerprints taken during the autopsy of the female torso as well as a hard copy of fingerprints from a tentative identification, Millett said.
Since the Automated Fingerprint Identification System is so backed up, Millett had sent a fingerprint card to the crime lab to have a fingerprint technician examine the prints under a magnifying glass.
