PORT TOWNSEND — The body of a woman found in the water near the City Pier of Port Townsend on Wednesday has been identified as that of Melissa Christine Ellis of Oak Harbor.
The 31-year-old woman had been missing since Nov. 25, Bill Beezley, spokesman for the East Jefferson Fire-Rescue Department, said today.
The manner of death is undetermined, Beezley said, but he added that Port Townsend Police Sgt. Joe Kaare said the probable cause of death was salt-water drowning.
Ellis had been listed as missing after she disappeared sometime between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. the Friday after Thanksgiving.
She left her Oak Harbor home after telling family members she was headed to Coupeville and then to the beach.
Her body was spotted by a couple taking photographs shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday.
It had washed up in the area formerly occupied by the Tidal Bowl, which was dismantled this month.
The body was tentatively identified on Thursday on the basis of tattoos that were matched to a description in the missing person’s report.
But authorities would not release the name, age or other information until the identity was confirmed by family members.
Kaare said that it’ll be several weeks before the toxicology report and final medical examiner’s report will be available.
