Shayne GALLAGER - TRAGICALLY LOCATED DECEASED

Two weeks after skeletal remains were discovered in bushland in WA’s Mid West, police have formally identified the individual as a cray fisherman who had been missing for 17 years.

On Tuesday, a WA Police spokeswoman confirmed the remains had been identified as Shayne Gallager saying his next of kin had been notified.

The then 36-year-old had been listed as a missing person since September 30, 2003, and was last seen driving out of Leeman about 6pm in a 1978 red Nissan Patrol.

He had been living in the coastal town for eight years with his partner and two children, working as a deckhand on a crayfish boat prior to his disappearance.

At the time a ground and aerial search by police and local volunteers, along with posters appealing for information, provided no clues and he was formally listed as a missing person.

Nearly two decades later, his remains were found by members of the public in an abandoned vehicle deep in bushland about 20km south of Leeman.

The spokeswoman said a forensic examination had concluded his death was “not suspicious” and a report would be prepared for the State coroner.