Cause, manner of death undetermined for man whose body was found in encampment near Ridgefield

The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to determine cause and manner of death of a 61-year-old man whose body was found in an encampment south of Ridgefield in April.

Authorities estimated Jerry Wayne Whittier had been in the camp for as long as a year.

The medical examiner’s office ruled his cause and manner of death undetermined, according to a Tuesday update. Those results were previously pending when the agency released his identity last month.

Whittier was initially found dead April 22 in a homeless encampment in a wooded area near Northeast 179th Street and 10th Avenue, just south of Ridgefield.

Because the site was difficult to access, volunteers from Clark County Search and Rescue and Silver Star Search and Rescue cut a path through the woods April 23.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office’s major crimes unit and medical examiner’s office disassembled the tent and recovered the remains.