Local News

The (Centralia) Chronicle

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office has identified the skeletal remains found near a wrecked vehicle over a cliff off of U.S. Highway 12 near Packwood on Nov. 6. The remains are of Jerry L. Heilman, 50, Tacoma, who who was reported missing last year to the Tacoma Police Department.

The cause of death is blunt force trauma and the manner of death is undetermined, according to the coroner’s office.

Two hikers found the skeletal remains of Heilman by the crashed vehicle on Nov. 6 and immediately notified the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives and Packwood Search and Rescue members responded early on the morning of Nov. 7 to the site on U.S. Highway 12 near milepost 143, about 275 feet over an embankment.

The terrain in the area made it dangerous to traverse during the dark, the sheriff’s office said, therefore the investigation and recovery began the next day in daylight.

Responders rappelled 275 feet down the embankment to the vehicle and found nothing that indicated a crime had occurred, according to the sheriff’s office.

The vehicle sustained major damage. The sheriff’s office said it appeared the vehicle had been traveling at highway speed when it left the roadway.

The highway in that area does not have a guard rail.

The car with the skeleton was not the only vehicle found in the White Pass area between Palisades and Rimrock Lake.

Approximately 25 more vehicles, including stolen vehicles, were found, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Associated Press

TACOMA — Pierce County prosecutors have accused a 38-year-old woman of killing a Tacoma man who was reported missing about six weeks ago.

Margaret Effelberg was ordered held on $500,000 bail Tuesday. The News Tribune says she pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the death of 59-year-old Santiago Cortes.

The victim’s body has not been found, but prosecutors say they have evidence Effelberg killed him, including confessions to her boyfriend and another woman.

Investigators say Effelberg was the last person to speak to Cortes on the phone. Cortes’ employer reported him missing Oct. 4 after he didn’t show up for work for several days.

Arianna Pierrottet, of Lakewood, also was arraigned in connection with the case. She has been charged with possession of stolen property, identity theft and trafficking in stolen property.

Charles “Chuck” Cornell

UPDATE AT 11:36 A.M.: Cornell has been located in the Wallingford area and being reunited with his family, police said.

ORIGINAL POST: Seattle police are searching for a man who went missing after he left his Ballard home around 7:30 this morning. Police say he suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.Charles “Chuck” Cornell, 66, is white, about 5-feet-7, 190 pounds, with salt and pepper hair, balding in the front. He has a full mustache.

He was last seen wearing a green nylon jacket, dark pants and black tennis shoes, police said. He should also have a medical tag on his wrist.

Anyone who sees Cornell is asked to call 911.

Seattle police are looking for a missing and endangered 72-year-old man last seen in the 6500 block of Ravenna Avenue Northeast. (Seattle Police)

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m. | The missing man has been found, the police department tweeted.

ORIGINAL POST | Seattle police are searching for a missing 72-year-old man who was last seen around 11 a.m. in the 6500 block of Ravenna Avenue Northeast.

The man, who is described as 5-foot-8 with a medium build was wearing a brown coat, a brown, plaid shirt, and tan pants, the department said.

Police are calling the man “endangered” and asking anyone who sees him to immediately call 911.

Helen C. Inks (Auburn police photo)

UPDATE AT 1:25 P.M.: Inks has been located safe in North Bend

ORIGINAL POST: The Auburn Police Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing 88-year-old woman.

Helen C. Inks was reported missing by her daughter on Tuesday after she took the keys to a white 1995 Jeep Cherokee, Washington license number AHH 4084.

Inks has early on-set dementia and requires the use of several medications to control other medical issues. Inks did not take her medications with her, Auburn police said.

Inks is 5-feet-4, 160 pounds, with short gray/white curly hair. She is known to frequent casinos and could also be traveling toward family property in the Chelan and Grant county areas, police said.

Anyone who sees Inks is asked to call 911.

King County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue is looking for Taji Ali, a 78-year-old man who wandered from his Newcastle apartment early Tuesday morning. His family says he has dementia, and authorities are asking anyone who sees him to call 911. (King County Sheriff’s Office)

UPDATE: 6:45 p.m. | The missing Newcastle man, Taji Ali, 78, was found after citizens reported seeing him, per a tweet from King County Sheriff spokeswoman Cindi West.

Original Story | King County Sheriff Search and Rescue is asking the public to help find a missing 78-year-old man with dementia who was last seen at the Castle Creek Apartments in Newcastle Monday at around 1:30 a.m.

Family members said the man, Taji Ali, walked away from the apartment he shares with them sometime before 9 a.m., according to a King County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Ali, a skinny, 5-foot-10-inch, black man with short grey hair wearing sandals, will be disoriented, the release said.

While the release describes him as “frail-looking,” it said he appears to be in relatively good health and is very friendly and outgoing.

King County Search and Rescue members are searching for Ali and are asking anyone who sees him to call 911 immediately.

The Associated Press

MAPLE VALLEY — A body was found in a missing Renton man’s pickup truck down a Maple Valley ravine.

The King County Sheriff’s Office says the 54-year-old man’s girlfriend reported him missing Thursday after he did not return from work the day before.

Family members used cellphone GPS to locate his truck about 200 feet down a steep, wooded ravine. The body, which was partially inside the truck, has not yet been officially identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

It took two large tow trucks several hours Friday morning to drag the truck out of the ravine.

Dana Kirkland, 41 (Thurston County Sheriff’s Office)

Remains found in a remote wooded area in Thurston County last month have been identified as those of a missing White Center woman, 41-year-old Dana Kirkland, according to the Thurston County Coroner’s Office.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Office detectives are investigating how her body ended up where it did near Highway 101 and Whittaker Road Northwest.

An autopsy revealed no foul play or trauma, but her cause of death has yet to be determined, according to a coroner’s release.

Kirkland was reported missing from White Center in King County on Feb. 18, but investigators believe she last accessed her computer Dec. 27, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The same day, a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox that was reported stolen from near White Center was found at the end of Whittaker Road in Thurston County.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information about Kirkland’s disappearance or the stolen Chevrolet Equinox to call the office at 360-786-5500 during business hours, 360-704-2740 after hours or e-mail them at detectives@co.thurston.wa.us.

Ira Thomas Clodfelter, 28, of Redmond hasn’t been heard from since Sunday. (Redmond Police Department photo)

A Redmond man known to suffer from cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that sometimes makes it hard to breath, has gone missing and police are requesting help to find him.

A search and rescue team from the King County Sheriff’s Office found 28-year-old Ira Thomas Clodfelter’s vehicle parked at Rattlesnake Mountain Tuesday night in North Bend, but could find no sign of him in the area. Their search for  him will resume tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Clodfelter is described as white, 5-foot-4, 125 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen in a blue zip-up hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and hiking boots. A release from the Redmond Police Department said there is also some concern he may have been suffering from depression.

The last anyone heard from Clodfelter was on Sunday, according to police. An employer called the police about him when he didn’t show up for work this week.

The Redmond Police Department asks anyone with more information about Clodfelter’s disappearance to call  425-556-2500.

Heather M. Hemmer (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office photo)

A 28-year-old mother is missing, and the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in finding her.

Heather M. Hemmer has been messing since Jan. 11. Her children are safe, but it is unusual for Hemmer to be out of contact with them, and relatives are worried, the sheriff’s office says.

Hemmer is 5-foot-3 and 122 pounds. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and a number of tattoos. The sheriff’s office says she may be in either Everett or Arlington.

Anybody who has information about Hemmer’s whereabouts should contact the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 425-388-3845.