Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

The wildfire at Dog Mountain in eastern Lewis County isn’t expected to be fully contained until weekend because the terrain is very, very steep, a spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources said this afternoon.

Crews have been battling the fire since it was reported on Saturday afternoon, south of Glenoma on property owned by Port Blakley.

Janet Pearce, the communications manager for the state agency, indicated it is covering 160 acres of but is 60 percent contained.

The expected morning weather is encouraging, according to Pearce.

The fire was one of two large ones that broke out this weekend on area timberland.

The brush fire in the Capitol Forest about eight miles northwest of Littlerock, should be fully contained tomorrow, Pearce said.

The blaze, dubbed the C-Line Fire was 70 percent contained this afternoon and had burned 80 acres, according to Pearce.

West Thurston Regional Fire Authority sent four people there today to assist. The Rochester-Littlerock fire department was the agency that first responded to the fire about 12:15 a.m. on Sunday.

Chief Robert Scott said today it was called in by several people and crews found two bonfires had spread from a gravel pit about three miles south of Capitol Peak, in a common area for “kid parties.”

“Everybody had scattered,” Scott said.

He called it an “off the grid” destination for underage drinking parties

It’s about twice as windy at that roughly 1,000-foot elevation as down below, and embers had blown around, Scott said.

The investigation into the cause is being conducted by DNR, but the bon fires are the point of origin, Scott said.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Detectives ran into somewhat of a dead end when they followed up a family member’s lead that the 2010 disappearance of Lewis County teen Kayla Croft-Payne may be related to a photographer she met with on a website called Model Mayhem, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today.

Kayla Croft-Payne

Using a search warrant to get information in mid-March from the company that houses information for the site, deputies were told there was no account history on the website for Croft-Payne, according to the sheriff’s office.

Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said in a news release detectives worked with Internet Brands Inc. looking at all the accounts from Western Washington. They checked the young woman’s identity information, email addresses and used facial recognition imagery in  reverse, according to Brown.

Croft-Payne was 18 and living in rural Chehalis when she was reported missing in the spring of 2010, by a roommate who hadn’t seen her for several days.

Her aunt, Karen Hinton, recently told detectives the girl’s last posting on social media sites suggested she had gone to get pictures taken for a modeling portfolio and asked them to look into Model Mayhem. Hinton had begun working with a Vancouver, Wash.-based organization.

In March, National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation contacted numerous members of the press to describe how Croft-Payne is one of three young women around the country who posted photos and information about themselves on the same modeling website and left for modeling only to never return home.

Brown indicated today that when detectives briefed family members of what they discovered, they were told a family member had located the particular account she had seen and it turned out to be on a different modeling website.

The sheriff’s office will follow up on the new information, Brown stated.

Last week, the Vancouver group announced it has created a task force to investigate online modeling sites which are involved in criminal activity, saying it is aware of many cases that involve rape, trafficking, murder and other violence and abuse toward females.

Brown says the sheriff’s office is actively following up on all leads and tips related to Croft-Payne’s disappearance. They ask anyone who knows anything about the case please call them or contact Crime Stoppers of Lewis County, at 1-800-748-6422.
•••

For background, read “Kayla Croft-Payne: Family of missing girl questions link to modeling website” from  Monday April 29, 2013, here

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Attorneys confirmed to a judge today they are ready to begin the murder trial on Monday for 30-year-old Centralian Weston G. Miller.

Miller has been in the Lewis County Jail awaiting trial since the  March 13, 2012 fatal shooting of his house guest, 43-year-old David Wayne Carson.

Weston G. Miller

Centralia attorney J.P. Enbody has indicated he will be arguing self defense. Miller has claimed self defense from the beginning.

Police called the afternoon of March 13 to Miller’s house on B Street found Carson dead inside with two bullet wounds in his chest and chased down Miller who had left in a pickup truck. Officers were told Carson and his girlfriend Sara Delsavo had been arguing and Miller told them to stop it.

He said Carson came at him with a knife in his hand, but Delsavo said her boyfriend was unarmed, according to charging documents.

The case got off to a slow start because of questions whether Miller was competent to stand trial.

David Wayne Carson

At one point, Miller was prepared to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, and before that, his attorney indicated his client would be relying upon a defense of insanity / diminished capacity.

Miller has already pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm that grew out of the same investigation.

Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said the trial is expected to last about four days. The charge is first-degree murder.
•••

For background, read “B Street homicide: Defendant says self defense” from Wednesday March 14, 2012, here

Updated at 2:20 p.m.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Centralia police are investigating an overnight robbery in which a motorist said she was approached at gunpoint at the 100 block of Harrison Avenue.

Officers called about 12:15 a.m. were told the female was inside her vehicle when a male with a pistol demanded her purse.

She handed it over and he fled to a maroon sedan then left the area, according to the Centralia Police Department.

Police Sgt. Brian Warren said the victim actually knew the man and they were meeting; although Warren didn’t know the details about why.

The victim was not hurt, according to police.

Information from her led police to a residence in the Logan district of Centralia where they arrested Anthony F. Johnson as well as Kaylie J. Longmire. Longmire was driving the car, Warren said.

A gun has been recovered and officers are searching the home this afternoon, according to Warren.

Further information still to come.

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

After collecting more than 1,000 tons of expired and unwanted prescription medications at previous events over the past three years, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a national drug take back day tomorrow.

In Rochester, containers of old meds can be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

The idea is to prevent abuse, addiction and even death from theft, diversion, accidental ingestion and misuse, according to the DEA.

The number of people across the country abusing prescription drugs is higher than than those using cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens combined, officials say. The majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet, according to surveys of users.

They can be delivered tomorrow to the collection site at the ROOF Community Resource Center in Rochester on the corner of U.S. Highway 12 and Bend Street  SW, according to the sheriff’s office.

In Lewis County, four local drop off sites were established late in 2010.