Washington State Mysteries

    Home  Don't Miss Unsolved Mysteries Pierce County Unsolved Mysteries in Pierce County — Recent and Historical By Steve Dunkelberger Facebook33 Tweet0 Pin0 People have committed crimes against each other since the beginning of time. Some crimes are solved — others aren’t. Occasionally, disappearances have no clues of maleficence, leaving unsolved mysteries in Pierce County for years or decades with an eternity of questions. That fact doesn’t stop the search for answers. The advent of online databases and social media, as well as the medical advancements in DNA profiling, have given new hope to families and law enforcement agencies that missing person and unsolved murder cases can one day be solved. One of the oldest unsolved murders historical researchers have rekindled efforts to solve involves the murder of Nisqually Chief Quiemuth in the fall of 1856. The Indian Wars had just ended, and Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens wanted revenge. Quiemuth had just surrendered aft...

Two men found dead with gunshot wounds on Mount Rainier as university professor remains missing by Ellen Killoran November 3, 2020   The bodies of two men have been found in Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park, weeks after a University of Washington professor went missing there. According to KOMO News, hikers discovered the bodies of two unidentified men on Saturday. Park rangers recovered the bodies from the unspecified location where the hikers spotted them, and a preliminary investigation reportedly found that the men both died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Authorities have not publicly identified the decedents, releasing only their ages — 29 and 34. Officials reportedly said that neither of the men are from western Washington, but have not commented on where the men are believed to have traveled from. As CNN previously reported, Sam Dubal was reported missing on October 12, three days after he visited the national park, expected to return the next day. Dubal’s resident...

Remains of 2 bodies found in suitcases on West Seattle beach identified On June 19, a person filming a Tik Tok appeared to have stumbled across a suitcase, which authorities later discovered had human remains inside. Author:  KING 5 Staff Published:  3:23 PM PDT June 30, 2020 Updated:  11:08 PM PDT July 1, 2020 SEATTLE — Seattle police have identified the remains of two bodies found inside bags earlier this month on a West Seattle beach.  On June 19, police responded after getting a call about a suspicious bag on the beach near the water in the  1100 block of Alki Avenue SW . Another bag was found in the water, and once the contents inside were determined to be human remains, detectives responded to investigate,  according to a release  from the Seattle Police Department. The King County Medical Examiner's office identified the deceased as 35-year-old Jessica Lewis who died in Seattle on June 16 from multiple gunshot wounds. The second victim was ident...

Possible answers in 11-year missing person investigation On the 11th anniversary of her disappearance from a Bloomington domestic abuse center, the Bloomington Police Department announced that two people were charged with the murder of April Pease. Pease, 30, was from Washington state and had been staying at the Cornerstone shelter for about five months when she disappeared in March 2009. Cedric Marks, a 45-year-old Belton, Texas, man and Kellee Sorensen, a 34-year-old Lynden, Washington, woman, were charged March 11 in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree murder, with intent, but without premeditation. The suspects face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. The charges follow a long investigation by multiple detectives who were initially handicapped by the fact that it was approximately six months after her disappearance when they received the report. Pease disappeared without a clue as to where she was going. Her situation was complicated by the fact that she had a hist...

Skip to content Missing Washington girl found in rural Mexico, FBI says By:  KIRO 7 News Staff Updated: March 27, 2020 - 3:13 PM SEATTLE —  Officials with the FBI office in Seattle announced Friday they recovered a girl who had been missing from Adams County for nearly two years in rural Mexico. Agents received a tip and worked with the the Legal Attaché Office in Mexico City to find the girl about eight hours outside Mexico City. >> Family confirms Robert Levinson, former FBI agent, dies in Iranian custody Content Continues Below “Too many times we see situations like these end in tragedy or with no answers. Happily in this case, we were able to bring her home, thanks to the quick actions of our agents and our partners at the Othello Police Department and the Mexican Federal Police,” said FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge Raymond Duda. The girl was reported missing by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in June 2018 when she was 14 years old. Offici...

Snohomish County was state’s ground zero, analysis suggests A genetics and infectious disease expert studied the DNA of individual cases to trace transmission. Tuesday, March 3, 2020 7:27am LOCAL NEWS NORTHWEST CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK EVERETT   Trevor Bedford (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) By Mike Carter / The Seattle Times SEATTLE — A genetics and infectious disease expert at Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center said Tuesday that additional analysis of the spread of the novel coronavirus, using genetic markers, has led to him conclude that  as many as 570 Washington residents may have contracted the virus , many of them without knowing it, and have been spreading it through the community with Snohomish County as the outbreak’s center. Trevor Bedford posted some of his initial findings on Twitter  over the weekend, concluding that the genetic relationship between the first confirmed case of the disease —  a Snohomish County man hospitalized in Ever...

Washington man Jacob Hilkin disappears after night at casino with friends March 26, 2018, 4:30 PM PDT / Updated March 26, 2018, 4:30 PM PDT By Juliet Muir Twenty-four-year-old Jacob Hilkin had been working hard to turn his life around. He had moved out of his mother’s house in Everett, Washington and moved in with friends nearby. He had bought a car, and was “emotionally mature,” according to his mother Marni Pierce. 24 year-old Jacob Hilkin has not been heard from since January 23, 2018. Courtesy Snohomish County Sheriff's Office “It was all those milestone things, like, you look at as a parent and know your kid is growing up,” Marni told Dateline. “Jacob and I were incredibly close.” They were so close, according to Marni, that they leaned on each other through life’s ups and downs. When Jacob lost his job in January, he asked her if he could come home and spend some time with her to organize his next steps. “[He] doesn’t have internet at his house. So he wanted to...