Nine years later, a mysterious missing person case in Langley might be closer to being solved.
A pair of divers have recovered human remains that could potentially belong to Allen Fletcher, the Port Townsend man who was last seen at South Whidbey Harbor, the marina in Langley, on Nov. 19, 2013. He was 30 years old at the time. DNA testing, which has not yet been completed, will be able to confirm an identification.
According to a story in The Record, Fletcher was captaining a boat for a couple that he met through a mutual friend. They were headed from Edmonds to Bellingham, but it became stormy and the trio pulled into Langley for the night.
The couple later told police they had asked Fletcher to leave their boat because he had become intoxicated while aboard. Few witnesses saw Fletcher that night, but one that did reported that the couple seemed afraid of him, and another reported seeing him near the marina.
Fletcher was nowhere to be found the next day. There was a 10-day gap between when he went missing and when his family reported his disappearance to the Langley Police Department. Members of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office dive team spent several hours looking for clues, or a body, and found only a blue jacket.
Divers from Langley performing work on behalf of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation on Sept. 27 photographed what appeared to be a human femur bone approximately 80 feet underwater, about 200 feet away from the breakwater float at the South Whidbey Harbor.
Then in December, they stumbled upon even more.
Joe Mangiafico and Tabitha Jacobs-Mangiafico, the divers, shared the details of their thrilling discovery during the January member meeting of Sound Water Stewards of Island County.
The two divers located more bones, including a humerus and rib cage, which were tucked inside another jacket. They also found a mandible and two tibias. Not far from the collection of bones was something startling – a driver’s license belonging to Fletcher, the missing man.
The remains were retrieved and handed off to Island County Coroner Shantel Porter, who reported that about 60% of a human skeleton was present. A state anthropologist confirmed that the bones belonged to a male, Porter said, but not much more will be known until DNA testing is complete, which could take months because the state lab is behind on cases.
Since a mandible bone was found, dental records might also yield answers. The county coroner’s office has called over 50 offices in efforts to locate dental records.
Photo provided Allen Fletcher, a Port Townsend man, was last seen in Langley in 2013.
