PORT ANGELES — A visitor whose body was found Wednesday on the site of the former Rayonier Inc. pulp mill died of hypothermia, Police Detective Jason Viada said Monday.
An autopsy was conducted on 32-year-old Lee D. Renfro, who was found dead on the fenced-off property not far from the Waterfront Trail, which skirts the Rayonier property.
Donald Renfro of Port Angeles, the twin brother of the Forest Grove., Ore., Navy veteran, last saw Renfro three days earlier, on the evening of March 28.
The low temperature on March 28 was 42 degrees, and precipitation totaled 0.02 inches.
Low temperatures were 42 degrees Monday, 35 Tuesday and 33 Wednesday.
Precipitation was 0.75 inches Monday, 0.08 inches Tuesday and a trace Wednesday.
Renfro’s body was discovered about 6 p.m. Wednesday by a Waterfront Trail user.
Viada said there was no evidence of foul play.
The investigation into Renfro’s death will not be closed at least until authorities receive the results of toxicology tests, Viada said.
Those tests also might reveal an approximate time of death, Viada said.
AUTOPSY
Samples of Renfro’s blood and urine were sent Monday to the State Patrol Toxicology Lab in Seattle, Christa Anderson, a Clallam County deputy coroner, said.
The toxicology test results won’t be available for at least 30 days, she said.
“This is pretty standard as part of the autopsy-coroner process,” Anderson said.
“They are checking for drugs, prescription and otherwise.”
Viada would not comment on where Renfro’s body was found on the property and the body’s condition.
Headaches reported
In an interview with Peninsula Daily News last week, Renfro’s mother, Judy Renfro of Forest Grove, said Renfro had been suffering from violent, though undiagnosed, headaches for the last few years and speculated that he died of a brain aneurism.
Renfro said her son liked to jump over the fence at the Rayonier site to get a better view of Port Angeles Harbor.
“He didn’t go out there to commit suicide,” she said in the interview.
“He definitely didn’t try to end his life.”
The mill site is surrounded by 6-foot and 5-foot fences.
Renfro’s body was discovered 300 feet north of the Rayonier guard shack, which is situated at the entrance to the property and at the north end of Ennis Street.
As to why the body was not discovered sooner, “distance alone is the explanation,” Viada said.
“It was clearly visible, but it would be possible for someone to walk down that trail and not see it.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
