Portland-Vancouver witnesses hold key to solving murder in Long Beach, Wash.; $36,000 reward



LONG BEACH, Wash. – Jeff Beach wasn’t a local but the people of Long Beach take his murder three years ago very personally.  The 36-year-old from the Kent area was attacked on July 3, 2015 and died after being airlifted to Portland.

“The whole community was devastated and this is just not activity that we condone in this area,” said Venito Trujillo, who works at the Pioneer Market and Deli.

It’s one of the businesses around town where Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson is posting new Crime Stoppers fliers offering a $36,000 reward for any tip that leads to the killer’s arrest.  He hopes they catch the eye of someone returning to Long Beach who visited three years ago on July 4th.

"One area we would really like to reach out to is the Portland-Vancouver area since it appears that there may be witnesses from that area that still haven't come forward to us,” said Sheriff Johnson.

Beach was in Long Beach softball tournament when he was violently assaulted twice while trying to stop some women from being harassed. Investigators say there were 10 to 15 witnesses to the first attack on the beach. It was a chaotic scene.

“There's fireworks going off everywhere so it's loud. There's a lot of people. A lot of them intoxicated, so there could be lots of people who may have actually witnessed something we've never even identified,” said Det. Ryan Tully.

As Beach headed back to his resort, Det. Tully says the 3rd baseman was attacked again.  Investigators would like to speak with any witnesses. Beach was found lying in a trail between the dunes.

"When this call first came out and responders were arriving, the call was reported to have come out at the RV park and so responders were actually going to that location and didn’t realize that it was actually a separate trail that this had happened on so they were actually having to run through the dune grass just to get to Jeff,” said Det. Tully.

Beach died of a traumatic brain injury.

Speaking at the softball field in Kent where he practiced, Beach’s parents just want some answers.

“It`s tough. I think not having closure makes it tougher, because there`s a lot of things we don`t know,” said mom Laurie Beach.

Sheriff Johnson says he understands the last three years have been agonizing for Beach’s family but he absolutely believes this case can be solved.

“Someone killed Jeff Beach and we would like that person in jail. We have most of the clues that we need. We just need a little more direction to go out and make an arrest,” said Sheriff Johnson.

The community of Long Beach is counting on that.  "We don't want our tourists and friends and family to come visit and think that something like this is gonna happen,” said Trujillo.

If you have any information that can help deputies identify the suspect, contact the Pacific County Sheriff's Office at (360) 875-9397 or you can remain anonymous and submit a tip to Crime Stoppers via the P3 Tips App on your phone or at http://www.P3Tips.com.