WINLOCK, Wash. — Lewis County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating the discovery of human remains after they were found on remote timber property near Winlock Tuesday morning.
According to investigators, timber workers reportedly discovered the remains while working in a densely wooded area near Raubuck Road.
While the sheriff’s office, the Lewis County Coroner’s Office, and the State Crime Lab are working to identify the identity and the cause of death, families and friends of missing persons in the area look at the discovery as a reason to hope for answers to painful questions revolving around disappearances without clues.
“I hope that it could be my mom, or if it’s not her then some other family’s getting answers,” said Samantha Moyer, whose mother Nancy Moyer has been missing since March 2009.
Moyer was last seen around her Tenino home, which is about 25 miles away from where the remains were found.
“My mom was first of all, an amazing mom,” Moyer said. “There’s a hole in my heart. I’m always wishing and wanting to find her.”
Moyer’s disappearance has gained national attention in the last few years, and when anyone finds human remains in the area, it raises both hope and heartbreak for her family.
“It would just be amazing I mean even if she’s not alive we would at least know and we’d be able to mourn her properly, and I haven’t done any vigil or anything and I’m not going to do one until I find her.”
Nancy Moyer is one of several missing persons in the Lewis/Thurston County area. Logan Schiendelman disappeared from the area at age 19 nearly five years ago, without a trace. Samantha Moyer speaks for the families of other missing people with the same questions.
The State Crime Lab said typically it could take weeks or longer to identify human remains, depending on decomposition and state of the body. Survivors of missing persons are hoping the positive identification of the remains brings answers.
“I still want to hold on hope that she’s still alive,” said Moyer. “So obviously, if anyone knows anything, please just tell us. Because it’s made my life really hard.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at (360) 748-9286 or Lewis County Communications at (360) 740-1105.