Update: Body Found Sunday on Beach Near Cannon Beach Identified as Missing Newberg Man

The bodies of James Nibler and Curtiss Heuer who were aboard the same boat, were previously recovered.

File photo by Tim King Salem-News.com

(CANNON BEACH, Ore.) - Police say a body that washed up onto the beach Sunday afternoon south of Cannon Beach was positively identified by the Clatsop County Medical Examiner as a Newberg man missing since a February 23rd boating incident in the Columbia River. The man's next of kin have been notified.

64-year old Lawrence Gene Nibler of Newberg, was one of three men who died in the February 23rd boating incident.

According to the Clatsop County Sheriff's Office, Mr. Nibler was on a fishing trip with 54-year old James Allen Nibler and 52-year old Curtiss Lynn Heuer, all of Newberg. While crabbing near buoy 22 in Hammond, a crab pot line became entangled in the out-drive of their 17-foot open bow Weldcraft vessel and the boat subsequently capsized.

The three men were thrown into the water. The bodies of James Nibler and Curtiss Heuer were previously recovered.

On April 6th at approximately 4:45 PM, a person walking on the beach found the partial remains of an adult male south of Cannon Beach. Oregon State Police, Clatsop County Sheriff's Office, and Cannon Beach Fire Department responded to the scene.

Positive identification was made using dental records.

For background on the story, check this Salem-News.com report from February 24th 2008: Two Salem Men Lost in Boat Capsizing at Clatsop Spit