The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit is asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who was found deceased face down in the Nisqually River in June 2003.
“Despite extensive efforts over the years, his identity remains unknown,” the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post. “We're renewing our push for answers and hope someone in our community recognizes the description or has information that could help bring closure to this case.”
The man was believed to have been a white male in his early 20s, standing at approximately 5-foot-10 and weighing 150 pounds. He did not appear to have any scars or tattoos.
He was wearing a white T-shirt, black shorts and white briefs at the time of his death.
His body was unrecognizable by the time it was found due to insect and animal activity, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Anyone with information — no matter how small it may seem — is encouraged to contact detectives at 360-786-5279 or TCSOColdCase@co.thurston.wa.us.
There are six sets of human remains found in Thurston County between 1981 and 2018 that remain unidentified, according to NamUs. Of those eight, three were found in Olympia, one was found in rural Thurston County and one was found in Yelm.
As of Friday afternoon, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) had a record of 33 active missing persons cases in Thurston County. The oldest active case on record dates back to 1963, with the most recent case reported in October 2023.
The Nisqually River case has been compared to Washington state missing persons reports from 2003, but no matches were found, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office encourages anyone who knows of someone matching the deceased man’s description who went missing in the South Sound area in 2003 to contact the cold case unit.
For more information on active missing persons and unidentified persons cases, visit https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/.
