COWLITZ COUNTY Wash. (KPTV) - Human remains found in 2021 have been identified as a man missing from Portland since 1995, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday.

According to the sheriff’s office, on April 26, 2021, tree planters found a human skull on the 7292 Road near Lake Merrill in Cougar, Wash.

The skull appeared to have been shot twice, with two entrance and two exit bullet holes.

On May 15, 2021, sheriff’s deputies searched the area with cadaver dogs and found a femur.

After the King County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the bullet holes in the skull, the remains were sent for DNA analysis. DNA testing showed the skull and femur belonged to the same person, but there were no matches in the database.

The bones were then taken to a private laboratory that

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