Identify Bow Doe
Donation protected
Your help is needed to solve a decades-old Chuckanut Mountain cold case.
Nearly 30 years ago, a handful of mourners watched silently as a gray casket was lowered into the ground at Bow, Washington’s small cemetery. The big question for them all was, who did they just bury? The mystery remains to this day.
On Feb. 21, 1989, Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Breckenridge responded to a report of human remains discovered in a remote location on Chuckanut Mountain. A surveyor reported the body while mapping the area. The dead man apparently died from suicide. He had no identification.
At the time, Skagit County Coroner Frank Kendall could not determine the date of death, but thought the man could have been deceased for a year, possibly longer.
Surely someone missed this person. He was someone’s son, perhaps a brother or maybe even a father. Skagit County deputies added case details into a law enforcement database to see if they matched any missing person reports. But for three decades, no leads have emerged.
This John Doe case – nicknamed ‘Bow Doe’ – continues to nag now-former Deputy Breckenridge.
“Just who did we bury in that grave?” Breckenridge asked. “Doesn’t anybody remember a friend who suddenly disappeared in 1988? Or a family member who may have parted ways and left for good? Perhaps he was a college student who decided to drop out of life?”
What is known is the man was Caucasian, between 20 to 30 years old, stood 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6, and had brown hair. He wore a blue and white plaid shirt, a blue and white windbreaker, Levi jeans and white tennis shoes. He had some dental work done. The condition of the remains prevented finger prints from being taken.
The man’s remains were discovered in such a remote spot. His last view was looking out over Chuckanut Bay.
Questions remain and you can help possibly find a solution.
This GoFundMe account has been set up to raise $2,000 for expenses to exhume the man’s remains and obtain a DNA sample. Costs were reduced by over half from agencies already donating or reducing the costs of their services.
The exhumation will be handled by the Skagit County Coroner, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and Kern Funeral Home. The remains will be taken to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination by a forensic anthropologist with the hopes of obtaining a DNA sample and to hopefully create a facial reconstruction.
We appreciate any help you can give. We are made up of a few locals in the Bow area. We are not taking any funds raised for payment to ourselves. They will all be used to identify Bow Doe and hopefully find family or friends so that they can know what happened to him.
Nearly 30 years ago, a handful of mourners watched silently as a gray casket was lowered into the ground at Bow, Washington’s small cemetery. The big question for them all was, who did they just bury? The mystery remains to this day.
On Feb. 21, 1989, Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Breckenridge responded to a report of human remains discovered in a remote location on Chuckanut Mountain. A surveyor reported the body while mapping the area. The dead man apparently died from suicide. He had no identification.
At the time, Skagit County Coroner Frank Kendall could not determine the date of death, but thought the man could have been deceased for a year, possibly longer.
Surely someone missed this person. He was someone’s son, perhaps a brother or maybe even a father. Skagit County deputies added case details into a law enforcement database to see if they matched any missing person reports. But for three decades, no leads have emerged.
This John Doe case – nicknamed ‘Bow Doe’ – continues to nag now-former Deputy Breckenridge.
“Just who did we bury in that grave?” Breckenridge asked. “Doesn’t anybody remember a friend who suddenly disappeared in 1988? Or a family member who may have parted ways and left for good? Perhaps he was a college student who decided to drop out of life?”
What is known is the man was Caucasian, between 20 to 30 years old, stood 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-6, and had brown hair. He wore a blue and white plaid shirt, a blue and white windbreaker, Levi jeans and white tennis shoes. He had some dental work done. The condition of the remains prevented finger prints from being taken.
The man’s remains were discovered in such a remote spot. His last view was looking out over Chuckanut Bay.
Questions remain and you can help possibly find a solution.
This GoFundMe account has been set up to raise $2,000 for expenses to exhume the man’s remains and obtain a DNA sample. Costs were reduced by over half from agencies already donating or reducing the costs of their services.
The exhumation will be handled by the Skagit County Coroner, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and Kern Funeral Home. The remains will be taken to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination by a forensic anthropologist with the hopes of obtaining a DNA sample and to hopefully create a facial reconstruction.
We appreciate any help you can give. We are made up of a few locals in the Bow area. We are not taking any funds raised for payment to ourselves. They will all be used to identify Bow Doe and hopefully find family or friends so that they can know what happened to him.
Organizer and beneficiary
Cathy Scott
Organizer
Blanchard, WA
Tony Breckenridge
Beneficiary
