May 16, 2003
Contact: Steve Rittereiser (509-963-2959/fax 509-963-2994/e-mail: chiefr@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The body of an unidentified hiker, found
near Snoqualmie Pass, has been positively identified through
fingerprints by the King County medical examiner’s office as that of
Fyn-Keto Ashawnakyn, 59, of Ellensburg, who was enrolled at Central
Washington University as an “unclassified five” – a student holding a
four-year or graduate degree registering for credit and not presently
applying it toward another degree.
A 1967 graduate of the University of Washington, Ashawnakyn
was enrolled in undergraduate art and English classes at the time of
his death, which has been ruled an accident.
Previously known as Eugene Calvin Pease and Ashawnakyn Fyn-Keto, it
appears that he fell several hundred feet off a cliff while walking in
a rugged hiking area. His body was discovered Sunday, April 27, near
Guye Peak at the base of a steep cliff. His car was found in a parking
lot nearby.
“The King County medical examiner’s office has had no success
in finding any next of kin,” CWU Police Chief Steve Rittereiser says.
“The name and information has been released in the hope that a relative
or acquaintance will be located.”
Anyone with information about Ashawnakyn’s family is asked to
call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-4155.
