On September 28,2023, a citizen discovered skeletonized human remains in a wooded area near the 200 block of Bates Road, White Salmon.
A scene investigation was conducted by the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team.
At this time the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office and the Klickitat County Prosecutor/Coroner are working to identify the decedent, and determine the cause and manner of death.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact KCSO Sgt. Erik
Anderson at [email protected].
The Human remains were transported to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office for examination by a forensic pathologist.
On October 3rd, 2023, Sondra Lentz contacted the Klickitat County Prosecutor/Coroner’s Office. She informed the Prosecutor’s Office that her son, Gary A. Zosel, 41 years of age, disappeared on or about December 18, 2021 and at the time was living in the Snowden area of Klickitat County.
Klickitat County Sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Erik Anderson contacted Mrs. Sondra Lentz for a follow up interview. Mrs. Lentz informed Detective Anderson she last heard from son (Zosel) via text message on December 18th, 2021 at 0618 hours, in what was a routine message. She further informed Detective Anderson that she normally heard from him every couple of days, but she did not hear from him after he texted her on December 18th, 2021.
The Klickitat County Prosecutor’s Office was able to obtain dental charts and X-rays of Gary A.
Zosel. These records were sent to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, for evaluation by a forensic odontologist.
On November 29th, 2023, Detective Sergeant Erik Anderson was notified that the Human Remains were positively identified as Gary A. Zosel.
The identification was made through the assistance of the Klickitat County Coroner’s Office, forensic pathologist Dr. Martha Burt of the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, forensic anthropologist Dr. Andrew Seidel of the King County Medical Examiner’s office, and forensic odontologist Dr. Kyle Tanaka, a consultant with the Washington State Patrol Missing/Unidentified Persons Unit.
I want to thank everyone involved that assisted Detective Sergeant Erik Anderson with the investigation that resulted in the Human Remains being positively identified as being Gary A. Zosel.
Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office is requesting anyone who has information about Gary A. Zosel disappearance and or death, please contact Klickitat County Sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Erik Anderson at 1-509-773-4455 or at his email address, [email protected],
####