PORT ANGELES — An autopsy is pending on the body of a middle-aged man found in a tent Tuesday morning off the Olympic Discovery Trail near Francis Street Park, according to Clallam County Deputy Coroner Nathan Millett.
“A passerby discovered an unidentified older man dead in a tent on the beach off of the Olympic Discovery Trail,” Millett wrote in a Tuesday morning email.
“It appears he had been camping there for some time,” Millett said. “We currently only have a tentative ID for him and are in the process of confirming it.”
He examined the body on the scene and found no obvious evidence of trauma and had no suspicion of foul play, according to the email. An autopsy will be conducted in Thurston County as soon as possible, Millett said.
Such discoveries have been made before on the North Olympic Peninsula.
In August 2022, the body of an unidentified man was found in a tent along the Maple Valley Trail near Dosewallips State Park.
An autopsy determined he died of natural causes, according to the State Patrol.
In December 2022, the body of a 74-year-old California man was found dead of apparent natural causes in a tent in the 700 block of East Seventh Street.
There were no obvious signs of trauma, and an on-site drug screen was negative. A relative said he had both a stent and nitroglycerin pills due to a heart condition. No autopsy was conducted.
Also in December 2022, the body of a middle-aged woman whose body was found off the Olympic Discovery Trail in the Morse Creek area. She appeared to have died of exposure and foul play was not expected.
In April 2021, a man in his early 40s, who was known to be a longtime unhoused Port Angeles resident, was found dead in a tent up an embankment where the hill meets the deck of the Eighth Street Tumwater bridge.
________
Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
