The 69-year-old Chehalis man who went missing March 6 was found dead in his vehicle Tuesday at the base of the Chehalis River bridge on state Route 6 near Interstate 5 in Chehalis.
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that the body found Tuesday has been positively-identified as John Sill, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
A Washington State Patrol investigation determined Sill was driving eastbound on state Route 6 when his vehicle drifted over the centerline into the westbound lane and then went off the north side of the roadway. The vehicle then traveled into a ditch, crashed into a tree and continued down the embankment, coming to rest under the Chehalis River bridge.
The collision was reported to Washington State Patrol at about 10:35 a.m. on March 14.
Sill was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the State Patrol.
Drugs or alcohol were not a factor in the collision.
Sill was reported missing early March 6 after a family member woke to find him and his vehicle missing from his Chehalis residence.
A family member had reportedly asked him to go to the store about an hour and a half earlier, but he had said he had taken sleeping medication and would not go, according to the sheriff’s office.
A Silver Alert was issued later that same day.
Sill’s cause and manner of death are pending further investigation by the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.
