NEAH BAY — The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office has closed its investigation into the disappearance of Stanley K. Okumoto, whose remains were found floating Nov. 8 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Neah Bay.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has positively identified them as belonging to the 79-year-old Kitsap County resident, Clallam County Coroner-Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said Tuesday.
While foul play is not suspected, the cause and manner of Okumoto’s death could not be determined, Nichols said.
Okumoto’s remains were identified by dental records.
Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Scott Wilson said the agency has ended its probe into Okumoto’s disappearance without being able to determine how he died.
Okumoto was last seen at about 11 a.m. Sept. 18 after driving from his residence in the Central Kitsap-Silverdale area and heading toward the Central Valley Road area.
He left without his medication, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said.
Okumoto had suffered strokes and walked with a cane, authorities said.
His 2002 Ford Escort was found Sept. 19 parked at a turnout off state Highway 112 about 6 miles east of Neah Bay.
The vehicle was about 1½ miles east of where his remains were discovered floating in the Strait by a tourist scanning the Strait for sea otters, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The man flagged down a Neah Bay police officer who was driving by, and the officer reported it to the State Patrol.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
