PORT ANGELES — A dead body reported Wednesday afternoon at a beach near Marine Drive that drew first responders and investigators to the area turned out to be a dog’s remains, Deputy Police Chief Jason Viada said.
Viada said the animal was wrapped in a sleeping bag. A dog bowl and a leash were nearby at the location at the bottom of a cliff in a hard-to-access ravine off a beach near the McKinley Paper Co. mill at Ediz Hook.
The site was below Crown Park off West Fourth Street.
Police Chief Brian Smith said the sleeping bag was partially buried in silt and rocks that had apparently sloughed off the cliff.
At about 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, a man walking on the shoreline “reported a dead body on the beach and also reported it had been there awhile,” Viada said.
Investigators who were at the location late Wednesday afternoon had difficulty reaching the remains and were concerned about falling rock and preserving the scene without damaging possible evidence, Viada said.
“We found the best access was from the access road near McKinley Paper,” he said.
Authorities, including search-and-rescue and county Coroner’s Office personnel, who converged on the site Thursday morning determined the remains were canine.
Investigators were able to open up the sleeping bag and more carefully inspect its contents.
“The remains were mostly bones and hair,” Viada said.
Asked if the dog might have been left by a person who had intended to return but had been unable to do so, Viada said the discovery of the remains was not connected to any known missing person report.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
