Woman’s remains found after 8 years

GREENWATER, Wash. — Dental records have confirmed that human remains found along Highway 410 near here are those of a 28-year-old Kirkland woman who vanished in 1996.

The remains of Sandi Rae Johnson were found Aug. 25 by a state Transportation Department crew checking a newly installed guardrail just north of Mount Rainier National Park.

Johnson, a mother of two, left her home on April 26, 1996, on her way to Bellevue Square Mall to buy her son a birthday present. Her car was found the next day at a grocery store near SeaTac. Her wallet was found at a hardware store in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. A Pierce County medical examiner’s spokeswoman said as of Tuesday no cause of death had been determined.