Examiner’s Office: Missing Snohomish man died from heart disease

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Officer reports Paul Yoshihara died from heart disease.

The Snohomish man was found in a grass field down Lowell-Snohomish River Road northwest of Snohomish on Jan. 13. The 75-year-old disappeared from his home a week earlier. The medical examiner ruled the manner of his death as natural.

Yoshihara and his wife had been talking about their previous home the night before she reported his disappearance. The house had been in Everett, but had burned down in a fire. It was initially believed Yoshihara may have tried to return to that location.

Yoshihara was last seen by his wife, who discovered her husband missing on Sunday morning, Jan. 7. Yoshihara had Alzheimer’s, according to a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office news release, but was healthy enough that he could walk for long distances. He was believed to be a danger to himself, so a Silver Alert was requested by authorities.

Sheriff’s office search and rescue crewmembers located his body from a helicopter. Responders noticed no signs of trauma or foul play, according to the sheriff’s office. His immediate family was notified.

About 5.5 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

“More than 60 percent of those with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia will wander, and if a person is not found within 24 hours, up to half of individuals who wander will suffer serious injury or death,” according to the association. The organization suggests for families that have a person who wanders to enroll in the MedicalAlert + Alzheimer’s Safe Return program that offers help when someone becomes lost.  

Yoshihara was one of multiple seniors who went missing in the area in about a month’s time.

Henry Groeneveld, the 63-year-old Snohomish man who disappeared on the morning of Dec. 1,1 has still not been found. He was last seen by his wife at their home in the 400 block of Union Avenue. All active searches have been called off until new leads become clear.

Henry Groeneveld abruptly told family that morning he was going to the river, according to the sheriff’s office. Snohomish Police led a search the week Groeneveld went missing that encompassed the Snohomish and Pilchuck Rivers, the Avenue D Bridge, railroad trestles and First Street, according to the agency. The county’s major crimes unit took over efforts once no leads were left to pursue. His family has continued to look for him.

Groeneveld is 5-foot-7 and weighs 150 pounds. He has gray hair and blue eyes, and was last seen wearing a red knit cap, brown pullover shirt and blue U.S. Postal Service pants.

The sheriff’s office asks that the public call 911 with any information on Groeneveld’s whereabouts. Anyone who wants to contact his daughter Liz Dickson can reach her at 425-346-0109 or visit a Facebook group dedicated to finding her father.