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Human remains recovered off Kresky Avenue hillside

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Detectives and the coroner’s office had to hike into the trees to recover the remains of a female.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Human remains found by a survey crew on a wooded Chehalis hillside yesterday are those of a female, but authorities don’t know who she is.

Chehalis Police Department detective Sgt. Gary Wilson said, after finishing up the recovery today, there were no indications of foul play.

Police were called about 12:45 p.m. yesterday to the 2200 block of Northeast Kresky Avenue after the discovery, about a quarter mile east of the roadway, according to police. Officers hiked into the scene and confirmed the remains were human.

Chehalis detectives, members of the Lewis County Coroner’s Office and a forensic anthropologist spent the morning today collecting evidence and making the removal.

Wilson said the mostly skeletal remains were laying out in the open. There were no signs of a transient camp or something similar, he said.

A little more than four years ago, a homeless man was found dead in his tent in the same general area. He was 67 years old and died of a complication related to cancer.

The area, east of the Yard Birds Mall, is above a swath of property where some earthmoving and cleanup is underway.

Wilson said the police department doesn’t have any missing people. He said he can estimate the individual has been dead around a year, based partly on items they found.

Personal belongings were found near the victim, police said.

The place where she was found was remote, Coroner Warren McLeod said.

“The climb was such a steep angle, the fire department put up ropes for us to hang on to so we wouldn’t fall,” he said.

Both Wilson and McLeod said they found some clues to a possible identity.

“We’re working on a lead on who this person might be,” McLeod said. “We’re going to see if we can find any local dental work or X-Rays.”

The condition of the body is such that no autopsy can be done. McLeod is arranging for the remains to be sent to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office where Dr. Kathleen Taylor, the forensic anthropologist, will examine them.

She will help to try to find out who the female is and do an examination that may help her establish a cause of death, he said.

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Police tape blocks off a trail taken to recover human remains today.