Drivers waved and honked horns in support as they drove past a group of protesters standing across from the Lewis County Law and Justice Center in Chehalis on Friday to raise awareness for the still unresolved investigation into the death of Ostynn “Otti” Farrier, a 26-year-old Onalaska man found dead in a burned vehicle on Jan. 22, 2022.
“It’s been a year and a half and it’s totally unresolved,” Ostynn Farrier’s grandmother, Fred Borgar, said during the protest.
She later added, “We’re kind of fed up with it.”
The protest was organized by Ostynn Farrier’s younger brother, Garrett Farrier, in hopes of rekindling interest in the case and encouraging the release of new information.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office was called at 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2022, to respond to a fully-engulfed vehicle in the 800 block of Larmon Road in Onalaska. Ostynn Farrier’s body was found in the vehicle.
An autopsy later confirmed Ostynn Farrier had ash in his lungs, indicating he was alive and breathing for at least some time while the truck was on fire.
The Lewis County Coroner’s Office later determined Ostynn Farrier’s cause of death was thermal injuries and inhalation of products of combustion.
Because his death was directly caused by the fire, Ostynn Farrier’s manner of death is undetermined until investigators determine the cause of the fire, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. If the cause of the fire is determined to be arson, for example, the manner of death would be homicide.
“His (manner of) death is pending,” Borgar said Friday, adding her message to investigators is “Figure it out.”
Ostynn Farrier’s father, Ed Farrier, spoke to The Chronicle last May in an effort to bring more attention to the case, expressing frustration that there had been no breaks in the investigation.
At the time, Ed Farrier hadn’t heard word from anyone at the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in 10 months. The detective initially assigned to the case left the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office a few months after the investigation began in January 2022, and Ed Farrier said the new detective assigned was unwilling to communicate with him.
“I’d like to see justice,” he said at the time. “It would mean that somebody didn’t get away with something that should be taken care of … It isn’t going to bring Ott back, it isn’t going to help me see my grandkids, but it will help. A lot.”
Ed Farrier, who said he had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, has since died.
Ed Farrier did receive a call on May 9, 2023 from a detective who told him he had recently been assigned to the case and was willing to talk to him about the case, but Ed Farrier’s family said Friday they’ve had no communication with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office for months.
“They put new detectives on it but they will not lift a finger,” Borgar said Friday.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for an update on the case Friday afternoon.
The latest update released by the sheriff’s office came May 9, at which time a spokesperson said the case was still under investigation.
