Body found on Harstine Island Jan. 16 still unidentified

Matt Baide | Feb 10, 20220

The Mason County Sheriff’s Office and the Mason County Coroner are asking for the public’s help to identify a dead man’s body that was found on Harstine Island on Jan. 16.

The Mason County Coroner posted pictures of the John Doe on Facebook and asked for the public’s help Jan. 21. The post has been shared 541 times but hasn’t produced any leads, according to Mason County Coroner Jaime Taylor. The body was found on the beach near East Camden Way on Harstine Island.

The deceased man is about 6 feet tall, weighing 170 pounds and wearing dark sweatpants, black Under Armour boxers, wool socks, a white shirt with Hollister Bike Week 2005 printed on it, a dark zip-up hoodie, a long-sleeve button-up flannel over the top, and a green camouflage bandana facemask. He also had white Skullcandy headphones.

Taylor said there was no option for dental or fingerprint identification and her office is awaiting results of a DNA test. Once the DNA is profiled, they will cross-reference it with the missing person’s database and other databases to see whether a match can be found.

“Normally, we’ve got fingerprints or dental, those are not available,” Taylor said. “We’re hoping to get someone who can recognize the John Doe. I can say that this is the longest time that Mason County has had a hard time getting somebody that hasn’t recognized the John Doe. We put it out on social media, we usually get somebody that says I saw that person walking down the street or that’s so-and-so. We want to be able to find some family and have some closure.”

For more photos, check the “Coroner Mason County, Washington” Facebook page. If you have any information, contact Detective Wood at [email protected] or Detective Mercado at [email protected].