EVERETT — Roy T. Blair strapped a sleeping bag to the back of his motorcycle, borrowed $20 from his brother and hit the open road in 1988.
He never picked up his last paycheck, and after a month with no word from her son, his mom went to police to report the 28-year-old missing. The police officer she encountered declined to take a report.
No report meant that the Oregon man’s disappearance never made it into the National Crime Information Center, a national database available to law enforcement.
If it wasn’t for the discovery of his wallet some 28 years later, Blair’s remains likely would have joined the 13,000 across the nation that are unidentified.
Hikers in January came across Blair’s skull in some woods near 140th Street NW and Marine Drive near Kayak Point.
Snohomish County sheriff’s major crime detectives, investigators with the Medical Examiner’s Office, and forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor converged on the scene. The site was excavated, and more of Blair’s remains were discovered, along with a wallet and clothing.
Detectives couldn’t read his driver’s license, but a military identification card was still legible. Blair had served in the U.S. Army.
He wasn’t listed as missing in the national database though. Detectives were able to hunt down his sister in the Portland area. She confirmed that Blair had disappeared in 1988. Blair’s mother had died before January’s discovery.
After speaking with Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives, his sister filed a missing persons report with the police in Portland. A detective there obtained Blair’s dental records and provided them to investigators here.
Forensic odontologist Dr. Gary Bell confirmed earlier this month that the remains discovered in January were those of Blair.
The cause of his death remains unknown. There were no obvious signs of trauma, death investigator Jane Jorgensen said. It’s unclear when Blair died, or why he was in Washington. His wife and daughter are in Oregon.
Without that wallet, Blair probably would never had been identified, Scharf and Jorgensen said.
The detective and death investigator are working to raise awareness about missing persons and unidentified remains cases.
They helped Victim Support Services arrange an informational booth that will be on display from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday on the plaza outside the Snohomish County Courthouse in Everett. There will be a short program at noon.
“We want to raise awareness and shed some light on these cases,” said Colleen Ingalls, the director of victims services at the Everett-based nonprofit agency.
Victim Support Services was founded in 1975 by families whose children had disappeared. Some later turned up victims of homicide. Others were never found.
“There weren’t a lot of resources out there for families,” Ingalls said.
About 550 people are listed as missing in Washington. Additionally there are approximately 125 unidentified remains cases statewide, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
For a number of reasons, missing people have been removed from the national database even though they haven’t been located, Scharf said. He recommends that families contact law enforcement to verify that their loved one is still listed as missing.
Families also should make sure that the missing person’s dental records are obtained for police. The family also can submit their DNA to the University of North Texas through a national initiative.
That could help law enforcement identify remains if they are discovered.
If a missing person’s report was never filed, or if police at the time declined to take a report, Scharf encourages families and friends to contact police again.
“Over the years families may have been discouraged, or been told ‘no’ once before,” the detective said. “We want them to try again.”
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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