King County detectives need help ID'ing woman's remains

NORTH BEND -- King County Sheriff’s detectives are asking for the public’s help identifying a woman whose skeletal remains were found last fall in a wooded area off of I-90 near North Bend. “We think she’s been out there less than three years, could be as little as six months, but likely not more than three, but that’s a hard call, so if somebody knows someone’s been missing 3 ½ years, don’t hesitate to report that person, please,” said King County Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor.

She was very petite and missing an upper left front tooth that was likely absent for a significant amount of time before her death. She would have had a noticeable gap in her front upper teeth.

“She is 20 to 30 years old likely. We think she’s mostly Caucasian, maybe some African admixture in terms of ancestry, so black and Caucasian mixed, but we really want to emphasis that people may know her as white. People may know her as black or people may know her as mixed and that’s why we had the artist do two different sketches of her to show her as more of a white individual and then more as a black individual,” said Dr. Taylor.

The woman’s DNA is still being tested but her dental records are not a match to anyone. Dr. Taylor has ruled out all of the well-publicized cases of missing women. “So in this case what we’re really looking for is the person who comes forward and gives us somebody that either has been reported missing, but has never turned up, we don’t have dentals for, or we don’t have DNA for, or somebody who has never been reported missing,” said Dr. Taylor.

It’s also possible she was reported missing but that information didn’t enter the database so she encourages everyone to follow up with law enforcement even if you have already filed a case and ask about the progress being made. “If you reported somebody missing in the ‘70s or ‘80s, remember that we still have Green River victims that we still have not identified. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was before computers. NCIC didn’t come online for missing persons until ’77 and a lot of those cases prior to that were not retroactive to that, so it’s really important that you re-report them and make sure they’re in the system,” said Dr. Taylor.

If you recognize this woman or have any information that may help us identify her please call the King County Sheriff’s Office at 206-296-3311 or you can call Crime Stoppers and remain anonymous at 206-222-TIPS (8477)