A body that washed up earlier this month near the mouth of the Columbia River is that of a Bend native who disappeared after being washed out to sea last month by the Japanese tsunami.
The state forensic examiner has identified the body found April 2 in Fort Stevens Park as that of Dustin Douglas Weber, 25. Weber grew up in Bend and had recently moved to Northern California to be closer to his mother’s native Yurok tribal lands. He is the lone U.S. victim of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March.
According the Oregon State Police, a hiker spotted Weber’s remains on the beach near South Jetty in the state park. A subsequent forensic dental analysis identified the body as that of Weber who went missing from the mouth of Klamath River near Del Norte after being swept out to sea by a large wave.
Weber is the first tsunami victim in the United States since 1964 when 11 people were killed near Crescent City, Calif. following an earthquake in Alaska.
This article appears in Apr 7-13, 2011.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
i believe there was a female teacher from the East Coast who was killed by the tsunami in Japan last month..so your article is incorrect about him being the lone victim…
He’s the only who was killed while in the United States as a result of the tsunami you idiot
Dear Staff Sergeant….i can’t believe you have the nerve to call me an idiot. Manners, please. While I regularly read Mr. Flowers’ articles and enjoy them..this one needs a little help. I think the sentence “he was the lone US victim”..could have been edited better. Maybe something like this…”he was the lone american victim on US soil…” I was merely commenting on the sentence structure, YOU IDIOT.