Police say found body could be missing man

POTLATCH, Idaho (AP) — Police said they may have found the body of an Idaho fisherman who was reported missing since 2008.

The body was found March 21 on the shores of Snake River near Clarkston by the Asotin County Sheriff’s Office, The Lewiston Tribune reported. Police believe the body belonged to Gary Thompson, 66, who disappeared in Clearwater River in Idaho in 2008 and was believed to have drowned.

His boat was found with its engine running, but without Gary Thompson.

The body, which was missing a head, was taken to Seattle for forensic testing. A pair of white, size 9 New Balance tennis shoes, a money clip and a set of keys provided clues to the body’s identity.

Moscow Detective Will Krasselt, who had known Gary Thompson, remembered the fishermen always wore white tennis shoes and decided to call his wife, Sharon Thompson, 73, on Tuesday.

She was able to identify the items as her husband’s. The keys fit her husband’s Dodge pickup truck.

“It’s a blessing Will Krasselt was in the loop,” she said. “He used to trap shoot with Gary, and he remembered the white shoes.”

The Asotin County Sheriff’s Office went through missing people cases in their area before they contacted the Moscow Police Department. Krasselt mentioned Gary Thompson’s name by chance. Gary Thompson had been removed from Nez Perce County’s missing persons list in 2014, Sharon Thompson said.

She said her family will give him a proper burial after his body is released.

“God has been with me this whole time,” she said. “Gary and I were married 43 years, and my faith is what helped me get through this. I am so thankful to know where he is.”