Lewis County Sirens.com

Updated at 4:06 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police called early this morning to a report of a body lying on the side of a Centralia street are just now wrapping up their scene investigation.

Officers responded about 6:20 a.m. to the 100 block of East Third Street, just off North Tower Avenue, according to Officer John Panco.

The preliminary investigation concluded he did not die from natural causes, Panco said.

There were signs of some trauma to the body. It’s a suspicious death, he said.

“I know detectives are doing the best they can, everybody wants to find out what happened,” Panco said.

The man appears to be older than 60, and is believed to be a person who lives in the vicinity, according to Panco.

“We have an idea, but I’m unaware if it’s been confirmed,” he said.

The coroner took custody of the body for further examination at their office.

Tom Payne, right, father of Kayla Croft-Payne and her aunts talk with detective Dan Riordan about the case today following a vigil on the fourth anniversary of when the teen disappeared.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – She wasn’t tossed down a well in Winlock, and it doesn’t appear her online modeling portfolio delivered her into the hands of some unknown photographer.

But four years after 18-year-old Kayla Croft-Payne failed to return home, a detective said he has some ideas of what might have happened.

“There’s a lot of rumors, a lot of speculation,” Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detective Dan Riordan said.

The friends and associates of the Lewis County girl like to talk a lot, just not necessarily to law enforcement, he said.

Riordan is working on the case that began in May of 2010, and spoke to some individuals today. He says over the next month, he has some investigating to follow up on.

Kayla Croft-Payne

He didn’t share his theory, or very specifically how likely he thinks it is this path will lead to answers.

“I can hope, I can pray, I’d like to get this off my desk,” Riordan said. “And I’d like to bring the family some closure.”

Croft-Payne was living in a trailer between Chehalis and Napavine on April 28, 2010 when she last logged onto her MySpace Internet account. She was reported missing a week later by a friend who hadn’t seen or heard from her for several days.

As they have before, her father, mother, other family and friends gathered today at Penny Playground in Recreation Park in Chehalis in recognition of the anniversary of when she vanished. They released balloons with messages to the young woman.

Again, they appealed for anyone who knows anything to speak up.

“I miss her dearly,” her mother Michelle Croft said. “I just wish someone would find her and bring her home.”

Her father Thomas Payne, formerly from Longview, traveled from his home north of Seattle, with his younger daughter.

“Every year I say I’m not going to do another one of these,” Payne said. “But if I stop, it’s like giving up on my daughter.”

Thirteen-year-old Jada is having a tough time too, he said.

“She felt like I do, she didn’t want to give up on sissy,” Payne said.

Many theories have swirled around the disappearance, such as perhaps Croft-Payne died of a drug overdose, prompting the sheriff’s office to point out hiding a body is not a felony.

The sheriff’s office and family have described the young woman as jobless and somewhat transient, living and staying in Chehalis, in Vader and Winlock in the year before she went missing.

She was also known to spend time in Pierce, Grays Harbor and even Kitsap counties. One early search with cadaver-sniffing dogs took place in the Toutle area in Cowlitz County.

Riordan, the third detective who has handled the case, led a search last May in which deputies spent two days digging through mounds of garbage and then excavated and drained two wells at property on Ferrier Road outside Winlock.

Nothing of interest was located except for a dog carcass.

Her aunt Karen Hinton has connected with a Vancouver, Wash.-based organization that last year at this time was investigating women and girls exploited by online modeling sites.

Croft-Payne wanted to be a model, and some of her last postings on social media sites suggested she had gone to get pictures taken for a modeling portfolio.

Detectives ran into somewhat of a dead end when they looked into the site called Model Mayhem. Using a search warrant to get information from the company that houses information for the site, deputies were told there was no account history on the website for Croft-Payne.

It turned out her family located the particular account they had seen and it turned out to be on a different modeling website. Detectives followed up on that too, without any results, Riordan said.

“A red herring,” he said. “That’s been cleared.”

Croft-Payne is a white female with blue eyes and brown hair. Detectives describe her as 5-feet 9-inches tall and about 130 pounds.

Anyone with any information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 360-748-9286.

Anonymous tips can be left at: Crime Stoppers of Lewis County 1-800-748-6422.

•••

For background, read : “Kayla Croft-Payne: Missing Lewis County teen’s parents still seeking answers” from Friday March 25, 2011, here

Tom Payne, father, and Michelle Croft, mother, of Kayla Croft-Payne are among those who came together at Penny Playground.

•

Balloons float away from those gathered at Penny Playground to remember Kayla Croft-Payne. / Courtesy photo by National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS –  Capt. Rob Gebhart will be the interim fire chief in Chehalis while the city searches for someone to fill the top post with the departure of Chief Jim Walkowski.

Chehalis City Manager Merlin MacReynold appointed Gebhart this morning.

Walkowki, longtime head of Riverside Fire Authority in Centralia has been halftime chief at the Chehalis Fire Department. He’s taken a new job in Spokane County that begins May 1.

Chehalis Fire Capt. Casey Beck said he was among those who recommended the move when MacReynold sat down this morning with the captains and Walkowski to discuss the department and its future.

“Merlin leaned right over, shook Rob’s hand and said, you got it, you start Monday,” Beck said.

Gebhart, a Chehalis firefighter for 27 years, has led the department before. He served as acting chief for about a year and a half beginning in early 2007 when Chief Bill Nacht retired. Gebhart was assistant chief below Nacht. He first became a captain in 1996.

MacReynold said the city is just starting the process to hire a permanent chief. It could take three to six months, he said.

The move comes because of Walkowski’s unexpected departure. Riverside is cutting personnel and top officers, due to sudden large decreases in revenue primarily from the reduced contribution of taxes from TransAlta’s power plant, as it winds down operations.

The Chehalis Fire Department and Riverside Fire Authority had been working more closely together, moving toward a functional consolidation. The changes won’t necessarily prevent that, according to McReynold.

“Everybody’s committed to moving forward, but obviously at a slower pace,” he said.

Gebhart, 49, said he likes the idea of filling the interim position internally, because it’s for such a short time period.

“I’m very glad Merlin made that decision,” Gebhart said. “Not specifically for me, but for the department.”

Ricky Riffe, prisoner in red, waits as a clerk gets his lawyer on the telephone for a trial confirmation hearing in Lewis County Superior Court.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors have offered a deal to convicted murderer and former Mossyrock resident Ricky Riffe if he pleads guilty to charges he raped and molested his 9-year-old step-daughter in the mid-1980s.

Riffe, 55, is already serving a sentence of nearly 103 years, following his conviction last fall in the 1985 kidnapping, robbery and shotgun deaths of Ed and Minnie Maurin, an elderly Ethel couple.

He was arrested in mid-2012 in the old case, and extradited from his longtime home in King Salmon, Alaska back to Lewis County where he was found guilty after a six-week trial.  Early last year, while he was in the jail awaiting trial, prosecutors filed charges accusing him of sex crimes, saying new information came to light during the Maurin investigation.

Riffe appeared in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon, where lawyers were expected to confirm if they are prepared for the trial which is scheduled for next week.

Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer told the judge there had been an offer made by his office, but he understood Riffe’s attorney hadn’t yet conveyed it to or discussed it with his client.

Meyer didn’t disclose what the deal consisted of.

Seattle-based defense attorney John Crowley couldn’t attend the hearing, but represented his client via speakerphone.

Crowley began to explain he was involved in two trials in Eastern Washington, and while he was there, meant to visit Riffe in prison to discuss the offer. But then he learned Riffe had already been put on a bus back to Lewis County, he said.

Lewis County Superior Court Judge Nelson Hunt was stern, cutting the lawyer off before he could request a postponement.

“We’ve gone out of our way to preserve dates for you,” Hunt said.

Hunt told him he expects either the trial to begin on time next week, or if a plea deal is reached, then a plea must made before that date.

Riffe has denied any sexual contact with the girl, according to charging documents.

Meyer said the trial is set to begin next Thursday and could last five days.

Ricky Riffe is back in Lewis County Superior Court for another trial, accused of child molestation from the 1980s.

•••

For background, read “Battle continues between Ricky Riffe, Lewis County prosecutors” from Friday January 3, 2014, here

And, “Attorneys dispute statute of limitations rules on surprise child sex charge for Maurin double murder defendant” from Saturday February 23, 2013, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 15-year-old Morton boy arrested last week after allegedly stabbing his mother will remain locked up as his case proceeds, a judge ordered yesterday.

The teen was taken to the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center in Chehalis following the incident at the family home on April 14.

He appeared before a judge yesterday morning for his arraignment, in the same building in Lewis County Juvenile Court. He is charged with second-degree assault.

His only words spoken during the short hearing were “Yes, your honor” and “not guilty”.

The boy is represented by Centralia attorney David Brown. Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson is handling the case.

According to charging documents, the teen and his mother argued when he wanted to walk his girlfriend home from school, he overheard his mother laughing about him and he told police he’d had enough.

The documents describe wounds on the mother’s arm, leg and chest, as well as a knife about 14 inches long.

Rhiannon Foister, 35, was released from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle last Wednesday and is home recovering, Morton Police Department Police Chief Dan Mortensen indicated earlier this week.

Brown said the next steps for him are investigating the case.

The offense carries a possible penalty of 15 to 36 weeks of incarceration, Brown said.

A fact finding hearing, similar to a trial, Brown said, is scheduled for May 20.

•••

For background, read “Morton mother recovering from stabbing, teen son remains locked up” from Thursday April 17, 2014, here