Man vanished 30 years ago, Washington cops say. Now his remains are identified
When Washington tree planters stumbled upon a human skull four years ago, it ultimately led to some closure for a decades-long mystery.
The skull found near Lake Merrill in Cougar has been identified as belonging to Anthony Matthew Croy, a 21-year-old who went missing from Portland, Oregon, in 1995, the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 4 Facebook post.
After the tree planters discovered the skull on April 26, 2021, detectives with the sheriff’s department collected it, deputies said.
Upon visual analysis, deputies said the skull looked to have “two entrance and two exit bullet holes.”
Deputies said they turned over the skull to the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office in hopes of analysis leading to an identification.
Weeks after the skull was found, the sheriff’s office said it assisted in searching the area with Cowlitz County Search and Rescue and found a femur.
After analyzing the skull, the King County Medical Examiners Office confirmed the bullet holes, deputies said.
Investigators sent both the skull and femur to Bode Technology for DNA testing, which confirmed the remains belonged to the same person, according to the sheriff’s office.
Bode entered the DNA profile into the Combined DNA Index System
CODIS is “a computer software program that operates local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles from convicted offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons,” according to federal prosecutors.
However, there was no match found in CODIS, deputies said.
Investigators then partnered with Othram Inc., “a private laboratory that specializes in genome sequencing,” in hopes forensic genetic genealogy might bring some closure to the case, according to the sheriff’s office.
Genetic genealogy uses DNA testing coupled with “traditional genealogical methods” to create “family history profiles,” according to the Library of Congress. With genealogical DNA testing, researchers can determine if and how people are biologically related.
At Othram, scientists created “a comprehensive DNA profile for the man,” which was used in follow-up genealogical research that ultimately pointed investigators to the man’s potential relative, the company said in a news release.
The relative told investigators they had a missing brother, deputies said.
A detective learned the relative had uploaded a DNA sample previously through a private genealogy company, deputies said.
When the DNA sample was tested by Othram, deputies said it confirmed the potential relative was the sibling of the man, confirming his identity as Croy.
Croy vanished from the Portland area, about 60 miles south from Cougar, around September 1995, deputies said, adding that an investigation into his death is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Jason Hammer at 360-577-3092.
Cougar is about a 100-mile drive south from Olympia, Washington.
This story was originally published September 5, 2025 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Man vanished 30 years ago, Washington cops say. Now his remains are identified."
