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By: Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – The body of a man found in the Peabody Creek gully near the Clallam County Courthouse back in January has been identified after a 7-month investigation.

The Port Angeles Police Department says the deceased was 60-year-old Port Angeles-area resident David Graham, but Deputy Chief of Port Angeles Police Jason Viada says the cause and manner of death are still undetermined.

“We don’t have a definite answer yet about cause and manner of death, but there were some events that occurred prior to Mr. Graham going missing that lead us to believe that this was most likely a suicide.”

Since their discovery by a passerby on January 11, some 200 feet down a steep canyon wall, the mystery surrounding the remains has centered not only on the man’s identity, but also on the cause of death and circumstances that led to its location, so near the parking lot of the courthouse. At the time, investigators did not see any obvious trauma that may have contributed to the man’s death, and speculated that the victim may have fallen or possibly could have been pushed.

We asked Viada if Mr. Graham had been on their radar as a possible identity.

“I know that we received information early on that the person in the ravine was possibly Mr. Graham, and we were able to finally confirm that. But once again, the investigation was made difficult by the condition of the remains and how long they had been in the ravine.”

Clallam County Coroner Mark Nichols says Graham was finally identified thanks to sketches from a reconstructive artist contracted through the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The sketches, posted on social media by PAPD, produced leads from the public here in Port Angeles. After pulling medical records on one in particular that was very promising, officials were able to determine based on surgical scars that the man was indeed Graham.