Person found dead by Finley field had been dead for years, say investigators

Investigators are still trying to identify the body found last week on the edge of a crop circle road south of Finley in Benton County.

It’s believed the person had been there for years, but little evidence was found to help with the man or woman’s identification.

An autopsy by a pathologist was started Wednesday but it’s expected to be a while before investigators have more answers.

Benton County Coroner Bill Leach explained that the autopsy isn’t the same as it would be for someone who died more recently. For example, they may need multiple X-rays to find clues to how the person died.

The state of the body also makes the usual blood testing more difficult.

“It’s not like Bones on TV,” Leach said. “They want to find out who this is and what happened to them.”

To begin with, Leach hopes the initial autopsy will determine the person’s gender.

Once the examination is finished, the body will be taken to forensic anthropologist Kathy Taylor of King County.

Taylor likely will be able to tell the age of the bones and possibly some information about the person’s ethnicity.

Taylor has said bones can contain a lot of a person’s history, including if they suffered from any illnesses.

Remains found

Farm workers discovered the remains on April 29 in the field in southeast Benton County.

Investigators are looking at people who have gone missing from Benton and Franklin counties.

Police have been searching for several people who have disappeared in the past few years, including Estela Torres Rodriguez, who was believed to have been killed in her Franklin County home; Nathan Rich, who is believed to be dead after disappearing in 2018, and Jessica Adams, who disappeared in 2020.

It’s also possible the person came from outside of the Tri-Cities, Leach said.

Anyone with information about a missing person or about the body is asked to contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at 509-628-0333.