SPOKANE, Wash. — For more than 30 years, a man found dead in Spokane remained unidentified, even at the time of his burial.
Now, the unnamed man has been identified.
Spokane County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Veena Singh announced the identity of a man found in a North Spokane landfill in 1989. Using a forensic genetic genealogy tool, the medical examiner's office was able to identify Clifford Wayne Bippes, a US Army veteran who was believed to be 45 at the time of his death more than three decades ago.
On July 2, 1989, an employee was using a bulldozer to clean debris out of the Spokane Northside Landfill, an area that was unmonitored and only maintained every two to three weeks at the time. While working, the employee noticed he uncovered what looked like human remains.
The body was a white man wearing blue pants, a blue jacket and a light-colored shirt. He had visible injuries and several distinct tattoos on his body. The injuries led investigators to believe the death was suspicious, but an autopsy showed the injuries likely resulted from the body being hit by the bulldozer.
However, the man did not have any form of identification when he was found.
Due to the state of decomposition the body was found in, no organs or tissue could be used for testing. The level of decay also meant the cause and manner of death could not be determined. His face was also unrecognizable, and his fingerprints couldn't be collected.
He was buried at Fairmont Cemetery as an unidentified man while police and the coroner continued investigating the man's death.
Beyond the tattoos found on the man, the only other distinct characteristics were stubble found on his chin and upper lip and possible degenerative joint disease. A forensic pathologist determined the man was between 40 and 60 years old and stood 5'4" to 5'6" tall.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) eventually collected fingerprints from the man, but they didn't match any in the database. A forensic dentist later charted the man's teeth for comparison to missing persons' records, but no match was found.
The Spokane Police Department (SPD) spent several months after the discovery visiting local tattoo shops, bars, homeless shelters, apartment buildings and the county jail. Police brought illustrations of the man's tattoos and told people a general description of the man, but no one could identify him.
The illustrations and descriptions were released to the local media, which led to several possible leads. However, they were all eventually ruled out.
The Spokane County Coroner kept the man's skull to use it in later identification efforts. The medical examiner's office examined the skull again in 2002 so the case could be added to the Washington State Patrol (WSP) Unidentified Human Remains Project list.
Additional tissue samples were sent to the FBI in 2004 and 2008, which were added to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). This system allows DNA profiles from various databases to be compared.
While waiting for DNA testing results, investigators kept working to identify the man. Local artists used the preserved skull to create facial reconstruction images. The artists hoped using accurate skull measurements and photos of the man's body would make the drawings accurate enough that someone would recognize him.
Unfortunately, nobody recognized the unidentified man. With no more leads to go on, the case went cold.
Until October 2023.
The medical examiner's office sent tissue samples from this case to Othram Labs, a company that uses forensic grade genome sequencing to create a complete DNA profile for a person's genetic network.
An adopted man put his DNA into a genetic genealogy database in the hopes of finding his biological family. He didn't know who his birth parents were but had done extensive family tree research, allowing him to provide a family name and possible leads on who his father may be.
The medical examiner's office was able to locate a living biological sister of the unidentified man, who submitted a DNA sample for comparison. On Oct. 3, 2023, the test confirmed a sibling relationship between the unknown man and his sister, finally confirming the man found more than 30 years earlier was Clifford Wayne Bippes.
Bippes was born in Tekoa, Wash., on Sept. 25, 1943, and was the oldest of three siblings. His sister last saw him approximately six months before his death, at which point he didn't have any of the pictured tattoos. She couldn't reach him for several months and finally reported him missing in January 1990. Unfortunately, she was not able to find him.
His sister placed a headstone honoring him, listing the date of his death as April 1991.
SPD and the medical examiner's office are still working to determine Bippes' cause and manner of death. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
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