Newlywed, 33, Died in Boating Accident 47 Years Ago. His Remains Found on Beach Have Finally Been Identified

More than four decades after a tragic boating accident off the coast of southern California, investigators have finally identified remains found on a beach in Oxnard as those of 33-year-old newlywed Donald Scott Reich.

The mystery began in May 1984, when skeletal remains — specifically a human jawbone with teeth — were discovered on Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the bone belonged to a man aged between 19 and 99, but his identity remained unknown.

It wasn’t until 2006 that a DNA profile from the remains was added to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). No matches were found, even after the case was listed in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). For years, the man was known only as Ventura County John Doe (1984).

Recently, new forensic testing helped bring closure to the decades-old case. The medical examiner provided samples to the sheriff’s office, which sent them to Othram Labs in Texas for advanced DNA sequencing. Scientists there created a full DNA profile, leading investigators to re-examine a 1978 case involving a fatal boating accident.

After a relative of the suspected victim provided a DNA sample, investigators confirmed the remains belonged to Donald Scott Reich, officials said.

Born on December 16, 1944, Reich had recently married and moved to Ventura County before the fatal accident. A professional organist, he worked at the Wagon Wheel Junction in Oxnard, a well-known entertainment complex featuring a restaurant and roller rink. Reich owned a 23-foot boat and had met a 20-year-old mechanic, Mike Gay, who offered to help repair it.

On a Sunday night in January 1978, Reich and Gay were last seen at the harbor.

“Investigators believe they took the boat out to test the engine and either ran out of gas or had an engine malfunction,” authorities said. That evening, both men were reported missing, prompting an all-night search by air and sea.

The following day, the destroyed boat was found on Mandalay Beach, with debris scattered along more than a mile of coastline. Authorities believe the vessel lost power, drifted into the surf, and was torn apart by rough waves. Gay’s body was discovered by helicopter four miles offshore, while a month later, Reich’s partial remains — without the jawbone — were recovered on a jetty.

Six years later, additional remains were found along the same stretch of beach, finally completing the recovery effort.

“This case represents a significant advancement in fulfilling our unified goal of ensuring identification of all human remains,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said. “Every individual deserves to be identified and returned to their loved ones.”