Chain of Custody & The Salmon Creek Trail Discovery
On September 28, 2022, pedestrians walking the popular Salmon Creek Greenway Trail—a paved multi-use corridor traversing riparian lowlands in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington—observed human skeletal remains situated approximately thirty yards off the path in dense blackberry brambles and brush.
Investigators from the Clark County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) and death investigators from the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office (CCMEO) processed the scene. The body was in an advanced state of skeletal decomposition with taphonomic scavenge dispersal across a sixty-foot radius. No wallet, identification, or personal effects were recovered with the remains.
Forensic Pathological & Anthropological Assessment
Forensic anthropologists examined the skeletal elements at the medical examiner's facility. The decedent was determined to be a White male, aged approximately 60 to 75 years, standing between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall. He had experienced extensive degenerative joint disease and spinal osteoarthritis consistent with advanced age.
Examination of the cranium and postcranial skeleton revealed no blunt force fractures, sharp force trauma, or gunshot injuries. The postmortem interval was estimated between six and eighteen months prior to recovery. The case was entered into NamUs as UP96894.
Genomic Extraction & DNA Doe Project Kinship Identification
Faced with an elderly decedent whose disappearance had not been officially reported to regional law enforcement, the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office submitted bone samples to Astrea Forensics for specialized degraded-DNA extraction and whole-genome sequencing in early 2023. The resulting single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profile was uploaded to GEDmatch Pro and FamilyTreeDNA under the direction of the DNA Doe Project.
Volunteer genealogists mapped complex generational lineages rooted in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest. Within several months, the genealogical team isolated a close branch that identified the decedent as 70-year-old Walter Karl Kinney, born in December 1952. Kinship confirmation was finalized in November 2023 through direct comparison with surviving family members.