Skeletal Remains of Missing Politician Wash Ashore In Washington

A set of skeletal remains that washed ashore on a Washington state beach nearly two decades ago has now been conclusively identified as a former Oregon mayor who vanished during a fishing trip in 2006, finally closing a long-running cold case.

Authorities confirmed the remains belong to Clarence Edwin “Ed” Asher, the former mayor of Fossil, Oregon, who disappeared in September 2006 while fishing in Tillamook Bay, a coastal inlet along Oregon’s shoreline. Asher was 72 years old at the time he went missing.

After Asher failed to return from the outing, the U.S. Coast Guard mounted a large-scale search effort. That operation was called off on Sept. 6, 2006 — just one day after he disappeared — according to reporting at the time by The Astorian. Investigators concluded Asher had likely drowned after his wife informed authorities that he did not know how to swim and was not wearing a life jacket.

Two months later, in November 2006, skeletal remains were discovered along the shoreline in Taholah, an unincorporated village on the Quinault Indian Reservation roughly 185 miles north of Tillamook Bay. Although the remains were recovered and preserved as evidence, investigators were unable to determine their identity for years.

“The Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office and the Coroner’s Office tried to determine the identity of the remains, but didn’t land on any meaningful leads. The remains were listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as Grays Harbor County John Doe and were eventually buried under other mounting cases,” the New York Post reported.

The case saw a breakthrough in 2025 when forensic material was submitted to Othram, a Texas-based genetic genealogy firm known for identifying previously unknown human remains. Using advanced DNA analysis and a sample provided by a family member, the company was able to positively confirm the remains as Asher’s.

The identification resolved a mystery that had lingered for nearly 20 years and confirmed long-held assumptions that Asher drowned after disappearing during his Oregon fishing trip.

Asher’s wife, Helen, passed away in 2018 at the age of 85 after a prolonged battle with cancer. Her obituary noted that Asher’s disappearance and presumed death left “a large hole in Helen’s heart,” leading her to return to Condon, the town where the couple married in 1986.

Helen Asher had previously been widowed; her first husband, whom she had been married to for two decades, died in 1980. Clarence Asher had also been married before his union with Helen, though it remains unclear whether he was widowed at the time, according to The Post.

Together, the couple shared a large blended family that included 21 grandchildren and, by the time of Helen’s death, 17 great-grandchildren.

Asher was a well-known figure in Fossil and devoted much of his life to public service and community involvement. He worked nearly 50 years as a lineman for the Fossil Telephone Company while also running the Asher Variety Store. Beyond his professional career, Asher volunteered as a firefighter and ambulance driver and served a short term as Fossil’s mayor. He retired in 1995 after decades of civic engagement, according to his obituary.

In a separate development, tragedy also struck a prominent political family earlier this month. Terri Lynn Williams Womack, the wife of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), died two weeks ago following a brief illness. She was 68 years old.

According to a statement from the congressman’s office, Womack died at Circle of Life Hospice in Bentonville, surrounded by loved ones.

“Sunday afternoon, Heaven welcomed an angel. My wife of 41 years, Terri Womack, went to live in eternity with Jesus,” Womack said. “My heart is broken and that space remains without her presence. I take comfort in knowing she is no longer suffering in pain and is at peace evermore.

“Her legacy of love will live in the hearts of all who knew her. Our family appreciates the outpouring of prayers and support. You have all honored her in such a special way, and we are eternally grateful,” he added.