A routine dog walk in Portland's St. Johns neighborhood took a grim turn Tuesday when a man discovered human remains in a patch of brush near North Edgewater Street and North Willamette Boulevard on the north side of the Willamette River, police said.
Portland police told KGW that the remains were turned over to the Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office, which will conduct an autopsy to determine the person's identity and cause of death. Detectives' initial work at the site does not indicate suspicious circumstances, according to the bureau.
Scene And Neighborhood
The brush where the remains were found sits just north of the Willamette River near the St. Johns Bridge, an area with trails and river access that sees regular foot traffic. While this discovery was on land, that stretch of the Willamette was the site of several recoveries in 2025, according to reporting by the Portland Tribune.
Investigation And Next Steps
Police have not released the person's name or additional details about how they died. The Medical Examiner will make the final determination after the autopsy, and detectives remained at the scene as the inquiry continued, police told KGW.
