Idaho Remains Belong to Missing Mom from Washington State

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A human skull found nearly two decades ago on a sandbar on the Salmon River in Idaho has been identified through DNA as that of a Washington state woman who went missing after her inflatable kayak overturned in a rapid.

The Idaho County Sheriff's Office in a statement Wednesday says DNA test results confirm that the skull and an arm bone came from Patricia Louise Tamosaitis of Medical Lake. Authorities say the 56-year-old was believed to be trapped under a large submerged rock in a severe rapid after tumbling into the water on Aug. 28, 1994.

Her body wasn't recovered. The skull was found a few years later downstream but teeth had been scoured away. Ed Tamosaitis, her 51-year-old son, says the discovery restarted the grieving process but the family also has closure.