Pierre Antonio Pearson (Credit: Cowlitz County Sheriffs Office)
A body located near Martin's Bar in Woodland, Washington has been positively identified as the remains of a Georgia man.
Two fishermen discovered the body on June 2, 2022 and alerted the authorities. The Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office recovered it and requested an examination by the Cowlitz County Coroner's Office.
They determined there were no signs of trauma, but due to the level of decomposition, facial identification and fingerprints were not available. It took nearly two years of advanced DNA testing to identify a match.
After contacting the deceased's stepmother and father, dental records were obtained that matched Pierre Pearson, a 34-year-old man who was last heard of in April 2021.
Pearson was originally from Georgia, he was identified as a transient in Portland before he died. There was no indication that his death was the result of a crime.
Pearson's remains will be returned to his family and the case will be closed.