COUGAR, WA – More than 25 years after he disappeared, skeletal remains found near Lake Merrill in 2021 have been positively identified as belonging to Anthony Matthew Croy, a Portland man who vanished in 1995.
On April 26, 2021, contractors planting trees for Weyerhaeuser made a grim discovery along the 7292 Road near Cougar, Washington: a human skull. Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office detectives responded to the scene and noted what appeared to be two entrance and two exit bullet wounds on the skull.
A subsequent search of the area on May 15, 2021—conducted with help from Cowlitz County Search and Rescue and cadaver dogs—led to the discovery of a femur nearby. Both the skull and femur were sent for analysis…