Nearly 20 years after a body was found floating in the ocean off Monterey County, coroners officials have confirmed it was the body of a teenager who went missing in 1995.

The body, which had been known only as “John Doe” since it was found badly decomposed at Asilomar Beach in Pacific Grove, has been identified as Cengiz Nuray, who disappeared April 27, 1995.

Nuray was 17 when he and his friends visited Greyhound Rock Beach in Santa Cruz. Cengiz went for a walk and left his belongings with his friends and was never seen again, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Nuray, the Monterey County Herald reported, had apparently been in the area while following the Grateful Dead with friends.


His body was found in the ocean about 35 miles away from where he disappeared.

Late last year, Pacific Grove investigators and the Monterey County coroner submitted DNA from the body discovered at Asilomar Beach to the Department of Justice to run against their database.

The DNA turned up a match for Nuray’s missing person’s report from Santa Barbara County, police said.

“After almost 20 years, the family will finally have closure and ‘John Doe’ will be laid to rest,” Pacific Grove police said in a statement.


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