Remains of Missing Elderly Mount Vernon Man Found

Mount Vernon, WA – The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by employees of the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) around 10:58 a.m. on Tuesday October 24th.  The employees were reporting a possible deceased person lying in the area of a vehicle on a utility service road, North of the 26000 block of Walker Valley Road.  The area is remote, and typically only accessed by Utility and DNR employees.

Upon arrival, Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputies located a deceased elderly male laying near a damaged vehicle. The vehicle, a white, 2000 Saturn SL1 was associated with a missing elderly Mount Vernon man, Ralph Tinsley. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Mount Vernon Police Department. Officers from the Mount Vernon Police Department responded to the scene and conducted the scene investigation.

Detective’s located additional evidence at the scene leading them to believe the deceased male was in fact, Ralph Tinsley.  As a result, Detectives notified Mr. Tinsley’s family.

Mr. Tinsley’s remains were turned over tot he Skagit County Coroners Office. The official cause of death is undetermined, pending results of an autopsy.   Mr. Tinsley’s vehicle was impounded as part of the investigation.

The family of Mr. Tinsley, and the Mount Vernon Police Department want to express their thanks to the public for their  concern and interest in helping locating Mr. Tinsley.

The Mount Vernon Police Department  received several reports of possible sightings of Mr. Tinsley  over the course of the last week, which detectives reviewed and determined were unrelated.

Lt. Greg Booth said, “These are very difficult cases for the involved families and law enforcement, and we had all hoped for a different outcome.”

Detectives are asking anyone who may have observed the vehicle on the service road, over the last week, to contact the Mount Vernon Police Department at (360) 336-6271.