Russell Warren Confirmed

November 17, 2005

76-Year-Old Mystery Solved in Olympic National Park

    A 76-year-old mystery has been wrapped up in Olympic National Park, where forensics experts have determined that bones found deep within Lake Crescent belonged to a man who vanished in 1929.
    Russell and Blanch Warren were headed home to the Bogachiel Valley in July 1929 when they disappeared. Investigators guessed that they might have crashed into the lake, which plunges to a depth of 624 feet.
    In April 2002 a Port Angeles, Washington, history buff urged park officials to search the lake. That prodding resulted in Russell Warren's car, a 1927 Chevrolet, being found, more than 170 feet down. Last December, members of the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center mapped and documented the area around the vehicle and recovered some skeletal remains found nearby.
    The bones, along with some DNA from one of Russell Warren's nieces, were sent to the FBI's Crime Lab in Virginia, which made the identification.


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