Sleeping bag remains found 25 years ago in Washington finally identified

Joseph Louis Serrao Jr., of Hawaii, was visiting U.S. mainland before he went missing at Olympic National Park

Published Jun 11, 2026  •  2 minute read

Olympic National Park in Washington state is pictured in this stock photo. Photo by Sean Pavone /Getty Images/iStockphoto

Human remains found over two decades ago in a sleeping bag in Washington state’s Olympic National Park have been identified thanks to advanced genetic testing.

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The remains were those of Joseph Louis Serrao Jr., a man from Hawaii whose last contact with his family was in 1998, the U.S. National Park Service said Wednesday.

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Park officials said a researcher found the skeletal remains inside a sleeping bag in a tent in a remote area of the Sol Duc River drainage in July 2000 at Olympic National Park.

The remains were transported to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, where a pathologist determined the deceased was likely a man between 30 and 50 years old who had been dead for somewhere between six months and four years.

“Items recovered from the tent were processed by the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory, but investigators were unable to develop usable latent fingerprints,” the NPS said.

Lab research provided breakthrough

The case remained a mystery until 2024, when a forensic anthropologist with the King County Medical Examiner’s Office submitted a DNA sample from the remains to Othram, a Texas-based lab specializing in forensic genealogy.

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“At Othram, scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the skeletal evidence and then used forensic-grade genome sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man,” the company said in a news release.

By 2025, the company’s DNA analysis identified potential relatives, the NPS said.

Investigators then contacted relatives in several states, including Hawaii, and co-ordinated interviews and collected DNA samples for comparison.

“Based on genetic, genealogical and circumstantial evidence, investigators identified the remains as those of Serrao,” the NPS said.

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Official hopes family finds closure

His family told investigators that the man was originally from Hawaii and had been in Washington before he went missing

“This case remained unresolved for nearly 30 years, but investigators never lost sight of the goal of identifying this individual and finding answers for his family,” Debra Flowers, deputy chief of the NPS investigative services branch, said in a news release.

“I’m proud of the persistence and collaboration that made this identification possible and I hope it brings some measure of closure to those who have spent so many years wondering what happened to Joseph.”

Serrao’s cause of death was not disclosed by park officials.

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