Body found at Centralia identified as Spanaway man

CHEHALIS, Wash. — The Lewis County sheriff's office says the skeletal remains found in February in a wooded area of Centralia are those of an 18-year-old Spanaway man who was reported missing by his family two years earlier.

The sheriff's office says DNA testing linked the remains to the family of Christopher D. Virdell. They reported him missing in February 2012.

The Pierce County sheriff's office is investigating.

Virdell, 19, was last seen Feb. 9, 2012, leaving for work from his home in Spanaway. His disappearance was first handled as a missing person case. But detectives soon became convinced Virdell had been killed and his body dumped in rural Pierce County. Click here to read previous coverage of the Virdell case.

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