OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Divers on Monday recovered two human femurs and a partial skull near the wreckage from a 75-year-old car crash in the depths of Lake Crescent.
The bones, which were retrieved by an elite National Park Service dive team, have been sent to the King County medical examiner in Seattle to undergo DNA testing, if possible, to identify who they belonged to.
Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said it will take a minimum of six to eight weeks before test results are available to park staff.
Monday’s dive led by officials from the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center ended a three-day investigation of the wreckage of a 1927 Chevrolet that rests about 150 feet below the lake’s surface.
The human remains were located near the submerged car of Russel and Blanch Warren, who disappeared in 1929 en route from Port Angeles to their Bogachiel-area logging camp.
Their car plunged off what is now U.S. Highway 101 near Meldrim Point, west of Barnes Point.
15-minute recovery effort
Submerged Resources Center photographer Brett Seymour said divers spent about 15 minutes collecting human remains and an additional 45 minutes ascending and decompressing Monday afternoon.
The remains were located at a depth between 150 feet and 192 feet.
