After more than two decades without leads or answers, human remains found in Washington state’s Olympic National Park in 2000 have been identified as Joseph Louis Serrao Jr.
According to Othram Laboratory, which specializes in forensic genealogy and assisted in the investigation, Serrao was born on December 3, 1960.
In July 2000, a researcher discovered human remains in a sleeping bag inside a tent in a remote area of the Sol Duc River drainage in Olympic National Park. At the time, a pathologist estimated the remains were likely those of a man between 30 and 50 years old who had been deceased for six months to four years. No identity could be confirmed.
Items recovered from inside the tent were processed by the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory, but yielded no usable latent fingerprints.
The case went cold — until 2024, when a forensic anthropologist submitted a DNA sample to Othram Laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Analysts there successfully extracted DNA from the skeletal evidence and used forensic-grade genome sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile.
In 2025, investigators identified possible family connections across several states, including Hawaii. Those relatives were contacted, interviewed, and asked to provide DNA samples, which were then compared against the profile derived from the remains. Based on genetic, genealogical, and circumstantial evidence, investigators confirmed the remains belonged to Serrao.
The identification provides long-awaited answers to Serrao’s family, who last had contact with him in 1998.
“This case remained unresolved for nearly 30 years, but investigators never lost sight of the goal of identifying this individual and finding answers for his family,” said Debra Flowers, deputy chief of the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch. “I hope it brings some measure of closure to those who have spent so many years wondering what happened to Joseph.”
