Leads go cold in Prosser body case. Officials to try sketch artist

Investigators are down to drawings as they try to identify the body of a man found near Prosser last week.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is asking a Washington State Patrol sketch artist to draw a picture of the man that they can show the public in a few days.

“We thought we had a pretty good lead, but that didn’t pan out,” Sgt. Bob Brockman said.

A passing driver noticed the body next to a barbed-wire fence along the south side of Interstate 82 about a mile east of Prosser.

The Benton County Coroner’s Office is waiting for lab results before it determines how the man died. He had no obvious wounds.

Death investigators got some of the man’s fingerprints and sent them to the sheriff’s office, Coroner John Hansens said.

A national fingerprint database couldn’t ID the prints, Brockman said.

Authorities preserved the man’s teeth and took X-rays to see if he’d broken bones in the past.

Those types of injuries, along with dental work, can help identify a person.

Investigators believe the white man was 55 to 70 years old. He was balding with a long beard.

He wore jeans, a dark-green jacket and a black beanie cap, officials said. He had no socks, shirt or ID.

The man’s body was likely lying in the area for four or five days before it was spotted.

Anyone with information about the man is asked to contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at 509-628-0333 and reference case number 18-00770.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Leads go cold in Prosser body case. Officials to try sketch artist."