Remains found in fishing line by duck hunter in Washington State in 1979 finally identified
Skeletal remains found in a fishing line entangled by a duck hunter in Washington state in 1979 were finally identified through DNA testing 43 years later.
- DNA testing identified the remains as belonging to 29-year-old Gary Lee Haynie.
- They were first found in January 1979 near Spencer Island, south of Marysville.
Skeletal remains found in a fishing line entangled by a duck hunter in Washington state in 1979 were finally identified 43 years later.
The case went unsolved for decades until DNA tests showed they belonged to 29-year-old Gary Lee Haynie, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
The remains of the Everett man were first found on January 3, 1979, on the tidal flats near Spencer Island, south of Marysville.
At that time, Snohomish County deputies found no suspicious circumstances and the cause of death was ruled undetermined by the county medical examiner.
The remains were interred as John Doe at Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Everett, authorities said.
The case remained unsolved for decades until DNA testing identified the remains as belonging to 29-year-old Gary Lee Haynie (pictured as a child), the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
The remains of the Everett man were first found on January 3, 1979, on the tidal flats near Spencer Island, south of Marysville.
The case went cold over the years, until Detective Jim Scharf of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Team and retired Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ken Cowsert began reexamining old unsolved homicide cases and unidentified persons in 2008.
In July 2015, the remains were exhumed from the cemetery and turned over to the county medical examiner.
A forensic odontologist took dental X-rays and uploaded them to the National Crime Information Center’s database to see if the records matched any missing persons.
However, no matches were shown.
The case was added to the National System of Missing and Unidentified Persons, a federal database.
In April 2016, a forensic artist made a facial reconstruction based on facial morphology, showing what the human might have looked like.
An examination of the remains that month estimated that they belonged to an adult white male between five feet, two inches and five feet, six inches in height and between the ages of 27 and 61.
In April 2016, a forensic artist made a facial reconstruction based on facial morphology, showing what the human might have looked like.
In 2018, the right femur was removed for DNA and added to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, authorities said. However, no matchmaking was done on that system either.
Then, in 2021, Othram, a purpose-built laboratory applying genome sequencing to forensic science, took advanced DNA profiling.
A DNA profile was created using forensic grade genome sequencing and then added to genealogical databases.
There were multiple matches through GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA, authorities said.
One of the best matches included Haynie. DNA testing of Haynie’s half-sister led investigators to confirm that her remains belonged to him.
A medical examiner officially identified the remains on February 10, 2023.
The medical examiner’s office said Haynie was born in Topeka, Kansas, and traveled the world with her mother and adoptive father, who was in the Air Force.
He loved the Beatles and played the piano.
His parents have already passed away and so far the circumstances of his disappearance are unknown.