[1]The sheriff’s office awaits a warrant to re-enter the home and begin investigating two deaths. / Courtesy photo by Teona Kinswa
Updated at 5:43 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office is on the scene this morning where two individuals were discovered dead inside a home.
Sheriff Steve Mansfield said a friend of the 50-year-old woman who resides at the house on the 100 block of East Stella Street came by to check because the woman didn’t show up for work.
She found the woman, and a man, 60 years old, deceased, he said.
“We don’t know what we have here yet, I can’t tell you if it’s a suicide or a homicide,” Mansfield said.
Deputies responded about 8:50 a.m. They are not out looking for any suspect, he said.
There were no signs of a struggle and nothing at this point to suggest the community is in danger because of what occurred there, Mansfield said.
Responders found no obvious signs of lethal injury or forced entry into the house, according to the sheriff’s office.
Across the street neighbor Teona Kinswa said the two moved into the house less than six months ago. She didn’t know them, she said.
Kinswa said she woke up about 9:15 a.m. and saw out her window 10 to 12 police cars and yellow tape around the property.
“A sheriff came and asked me if we heard anything last night or this morning,” she said. She didn’t.
Mansfield said arriving deputies checked inside and then stepped out to wait for a warrant to go back inside the premises. He wouldn’t say where in the residence the pair were located.
Detectives will be processing the scene and investigating to find out what happened, he said.
The home is inside the Napavine city limits, but the Napavine officer was not on duty, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s detectives are assisting local police by conducting the investigation because of its complexity, the sheriff’s office states.
Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday. Investigators will be waiting for their conclusions and the results of toxicology tests to determine the cause and manner of the deaths.
The names of the individuals have not been released, only that they are related and both lived in the home.