Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office said that the human skull with bullet holes found on a rural road near Lake Merrill in Cougar in 2021, belonged to a Portland man who went missing in 1995.
According to a news release, the bones belonged to Anthony Matthew Croy, who went missing from the Portland area around September of 1995 and whose remains were found on April 26, 2021, by tree planters contracted by Weyerhaeuser.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office analyzed the skull and confirmed the presence of bullet holes, two entrance bullet holes and two exit bullet holes.
On May 15, 2021, the Sheriff’s Office coordinated a search of the area with Cowlitz County Search and Rescue with cadaver dogs, and found a femur.
The remains were then sent to Othram, a company in Texas that specializes in forensics. Officials there were able to locate a close relative.
The investigation into the circumstances of Croy's death is ongoing.
