TACOMA, Wash. — Nearly five decades after human remains were discovered in the woods near Mount Rainier, investigators say modern DNA technology has finally identified the victim — bringing long-awaited answers to a son who spent most of his life searching for the truth.
Pierce County detectives say the remains belong to William Nelson Church Jr., a young father who vanished from Tacoma in the late 1970s. Authorities now believe he was killed in 1977.
The discovery closes one mystery but opens another: who killed him…