Human remains wash ashore on Olympic Peninsula near Sequim

SEQUIM, Wash. (AP) — Human remains washed ashore at Dungeness Spit near Sequim, Washington, and agencies are working to determine whether they are connected to the crash of a floatplane earlier this month.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said Monday they are working with local agencies, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration to determine the identity of the female torso found Friday, The Seattle Times reported.

Deputies were called to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and with U.S. Fish and Wildlife rangers closed the beach Friday and Saturday where the remains were found. No other remains were found despite a search, officials said.

There is no clear indication the remains belong to one of the 10 people who died in the Sept. 4 crash, according to Detective Sgt. Eric Munger.

A coroner examined the human remains and released them to a funeral home, the Sheriff’s Office said. Autopsy results are pending.

Officials have only located the body of Gabby Hanna, 29, from the crash near Whidbey Island. The plane had been headed from Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands to the Seattle suburb of Renton when it crashed into Puget Sound.

Efforts to recover the plane wreckage will start Sept. 26, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, which released a preliminary report Friday describing details of the flight and plane, but did not mention any potential cause of the crash.