A Washington man vanished 26 years ago. Divers just found his truck in an Oregon river

A pickup truck found by recreational divers in an Oregon river may have cracked a missing persons case dating back 26 years, the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office says.

Maynard Koen, 81, of Prosser, Washington vanished in August 1993, sheriff’s officials wrote on Facebook.

On Thursday, a couple diving in the Columbia River in Oregon found a pickup truck submerged in 20 feet of water off the Hat Rock State Park boat launch, the post reads. Umatilla County lies along the border of Oregon and Washington.

The Washington license plates on the sunken Ford Ranger matched Koen’s plates, sheriff’s officials wrote. On Saturday, a tow truck and dive team pulled the truck from the river.

Investigators inspecting the truck found skeletal remains and a driver’s license issued to Koen inside the rusted-out vehicle, which appeared to have been in the water since he vanished, the sheriff’s office wrote.

A definitive identification will be made by the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office, officials reported.

This story was originally published October 22, 2019 at 9:18 AM.