Updated at 2:15 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The skeletal remains found earlier this year off Little Hanaford Road outside Centralia have been identified as an 18-year-old Spanaway man reported missing more than two years ago.
A DNA match was confirmed yesterday, using family reference samples of Christopher D. Virdell, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. Virdell was reported missing by family members in February 2012 to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, according to the sheriff’s office.
Christopher D. Virdell
Pierce County has had an ongoing investigation into the young man’s disappearance and is now working closely with Lewis County detectives to determine what led to his death, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release.
Brown declined to speak about Virdell’s cause of death, saying Pierce County is the lead in the investigation.
The partial remains were found the evening of Feb. 28 by a resident in the area out walking his dog. The sheriff’s office said at the time they believed they had been dumped there.
The (Tacoma) News Tribune reports Pierce County detectives believe Virdell was killed and have interviewed more than 100 people in the case but have not released a motive.
According to Crime Stoppers of Tacoma and Pierce County, Virdell was last seen at 10 a.m. on February 9th, 2012, as he left a friend’s residence on 223rd Street East in Spanaway to catch a bus to work. He was reported missing later that night after he failed to show up to work or home.
The property near the 2800 block of Little Hanaford Road is wooded, close to the roadway, and owned by Trans Alta, according to the sheriff’s office.
The remains were sent to King County to be examined by a forensic pathologist who has expertise with skeletal human remains. The identification through DNA was made by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification and reported to detectives yesterday.
Further dental testing will be conducted, but it is strongly believed the remains are those of Virdell, Brown indicated.
The news prompted a conversation at the sheriff’s office about another unsolved case, the still unidentified remains of a female found near Morton in the spring of 2011.
A motorist who pulled off U.S. Highway 12 to take a break spotted the remains off the side of a logging road on April 7. The sheriff’s office has said they suspect foul play, but they still don’t know who the victim is.
Dental records and DNA have been entered into databases with no matches found. An examination by the specialist at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office could not determine the cause of death.
The woman is believed to have been between 20 and 35 years old when she died, small in stature and possibly of mixed ethnicity.
“We’ve done everything we can,” Brown said. “We’re still hoping someone will step forward to report their loved one missing.”
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For background, read “Breaking news: Human remains found on TransAlta property” from Saturday March 1, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Good grief<
I totally agree. The parents can store that sample themselves and if their child never needs it Great! But if the child goes missing then into CODIS and NaMus it could go. Oh I certainly do not advocate sending DNA samples to the FBI randomly.
Hi I am from the federal government and I am here to help you!! Yikes!
Bobby, while I sure get the reasoning behind the idea of parents storing DNA for id purposes, I would certainly NOT want that storing to happen with any government entity – especially not the FBI (which is the agency that houses CODIS). While I grew up in a day when government served the public, that time has now passed. I have to imagine – always – what could an evil person do with access to that information. Use it to falsely accuse a person of a crime comes to mind. Especially as “DNA evidence” is a gold standard for identifying innocence and guilt.
Well said Guilty!
It’s not cynicism, Bobby, it’s realism. The twisted have always been among us, but there seem to be more of them and they’re emboldened because so many people want to rationalize their behavior rather than mete out justice for it. Wrong is still wrong, whatever the reason.
This is a prime example of why people should have DNA swabs of their children saved in case the worse happens. If a child disappears the DNA sample can be submitted to CODIS and if the child is found later the DNA can be matched.
It is so sad that as parents we have to think like that but we all know it can be a cruel and unpredictable world. Wow when did I become so cynical?
He will once his killer(s) are convicted.
I’m glad they ID those remains. May he rest in peace 🙁