Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office seeks help confirming ID of Vancouver man

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office is seeking the public’s help to confirm the identity of a man whose body was found Aug. 6 in his Vancouver home.

The man is presumed to be 68-year-old James Zephyrus Smith; however, the medical examiner’s office needs help locating his dentist and biological relatives in order to confirm his identity, according to an agency news release.

Determinations for his cause and manner of death are pending, the medical examiner’s office said.

The medical examiner’s office believes the man was born in New Jersey and named Joseph Gene Quagliani. He is believed to have been known as that until 2001, when his name was changed to James Zephyrus Smith, the news release states.

He is believed to have lived in the Pacific Northwest since the early 1990s, in King and Clark counties and in Hillsboro, Ore., the medical examiner’s office said.

At the time of his death, he frequented local dog parks with his two greyhounds. He was also a volunteer for the Humane Society for Southwest Washington, the news release states.

The medical examiner’s office asks anyone with information about Smith to send it to nikki.costa@clark.wa.gov.