Remains of woman missing since 2020 found in Washington state, police say

(CNN) — Human remains discovered earlier this year in a remote area of northwestern Washington state are those of an Indigenous woman who had been missing since 2020, police say.

Authorities announced Friday they used DNA analysis to confirm the remains matched Mary Johnson. Johnson, an enrolled citizen of the Tulalip Tribes who was 39 at the time of her disappearance, was last reported to have been seen on November 25, 2020, on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington.

She was walking on Fire Trail Road on the reservation on her way to a friend’s house but never arrived, and she was reported missing on December 9, 2020, the FBI had said.

Remains that ultimately were matched to Johnson were found by authorities in a remote part of northwestern Washington’s Snohomish County on June 13, 2025