Port Angeles: Questions remain in fisherman’s death

PORT ANGELES — It has been more than six months since the body of a man last seen on the Elwha River washed up on a remote shore off Vancouver Island.

And although police still believe Michael William Udall’s death was a suicide, several obstacles — from cross-border communication to lack of DNA to manpower — are keeping the case open.

“This is one of the quirkiest cases I’ve ever seen,” Lower Elwha Police Chief Mike Lasnier said Tuesday.

Udall, 33, a Tacoma angler, disappeared in mid-September during a weekend of fishing alone on the Elwha River.

Lower Elwha police, who have jurisdiction over the area, initially believed Udall had drowned, but searches of the river revealed few clues to his whereabouts.

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The rest of the story appears in the Wednesday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.

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