WASHINGTON — Human remains found nearly 30 years ago in Olympic National Park have finally been identified.
According to the National Park Service, in July 2000, a researcher found skeletal remains inside a sleeping bag in a tent in a remote area near the Sol Doc River.
When the remains were first discovered, they were taken to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The pathologist determined that the victim was likely dead for six months to four years before being discovered.
The man, believed then to be between 30 and 50 years old, remained unidentified for decades.
Items recovered from the tent were processed by the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory, but investigators were unable to develop usable latent fingerprints.
In 2024, a forensic anthropologist at the medical examiner’s office submitted a DNA sample from the man to Othram, which is a lab that specializes in forensic genealogy.
“The testing analyzed a broad range of DNA markers to identify potential relatives and generate investigative leads. By 2025, the laboratory had identified possible family connections,” according to the National Park Service wrote on its website.
The man was identified as Joseph Louis Serrao Jr.
According to family members, Serrao was originally from Hawaii and had been in Washington before he went missing. The family’s last known contact with him was in 1998, and they had not heard from him since.
“This case remained unresolved for nearly 30 years, but investigators never lost sight of the goal of identifying this individual and finding answers for his family,” said Debra Flowers, deputy chief of the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch. ”I’m proud of the persistence and collaboration that made this identification possible, and I hope it brings some measure of closure to those who have spent so many years wondering what happened to Joseph.”