Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A woman found wandering in the road with her hands zip tied near Packwood this morning said she thinks she was zapped with a stun gun and abducted in Centralia near Motel 6, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen said he was notified just before 8 o’clock this morning and law enforcement officers were investigating in Centralia, at the location she was discovered and at Morton General Hospital where she was taken.

Breen didn’t yet have a lot of details.

He said the 34-year-old woman from Olympia was found near Skate Creek Road by a passing motorist.

She said she’d been staying at the Motel 6 in Centralia, was out walking near the establishment when a car came up and someone put her in the car, Breen said.

“She thinks she was tased,” he said.

She was taken to Morton General Hospital to be checked out, where a detective was waiting to interview her, according to Breen.

Later this morning, Breen said she was not cooperating with detectives, so he had no further information at this point.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Yakima County authorities are reaching out to the public in their search for a missing Pacific Crest Trail hiker, in case he has left the trail and doesn’t know people are looking for him.

Kris Fowler

Kris Fowler’s family began to get worried when they hadn’t heard from him and contacted sheriff’s office’s about a week and half ago. Deputies learned the Dayton, Ohio area man had last been seen at the Cracker Barrel store on U.S. Highway 12 near White Pass on Oct. 12 and was believed to have been continuing north.

Ground searches have been conducted with no luck.

“If someone saw him, gave him a ride, or knows someone who knows something, we need to hear about it,” Yakima County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Randy Briscoe said today.

The sheriff’s office has chased a few tips that are coming in and asked the Civil Air Patrol to fly from White Pass to the trail’s end, according to Briscoe. That should happen after the weather breaks a little, he said.

Briscoe indicated they are trying to get the word out far and wide, in case Fowler is in some other location and hasn’t heard about the search.

“The feeling is he is not on the trail, maybe,” Briscoe said today.

Fowler, who goes by the trail name Sherpa, began his trek in May. He is 6-foot 2-inches tall and 150 pounds, with blond hair and a modest beard.

Anyone who has seen him is asked to phone Yakima County Sheriff’s Office at 509-574-2535.

A Facebook page has been set up to share information about Fowler. It is called “Bring Kris Fowler/Sherpa Home
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For background, read “Pacific Crest Trail: Hiker from Ohio last seen near White Pass” from Tuesday November 1, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police recovered a box cutter knife after a woman was found yesterday with severe lacerations to her wrists and throat at the apartment complex that saw two suspicious fires last week in Centralia.

Officers were called at 11:36 a.m. yesterday to the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road.

The 44-year-old apartment manager was found in the bathroom of a common area of the complex with life-threatening injuries, according to the Centralia Police Department.

The box cutter was located in the bathroom as well, according to police.

She was transported to the hospital and then transferred to a more advanced trauma center for further treatment, Tacoma General Hospital, Sgt. Jim Shannon said.

Shannon said they processed the scene as though it was a serious assault or potential homicide, but are still investigating. They are following up today on leads to determine what occurred, he said.

Its the same complex where last Wednesday and Thursday mornings, authorities were called for possible arson attempts. The first morning, some paper was found burning next to the building. The following day, a fire broke out in a corridor of the same building, damaging an approximately 15 square foot area of exterior siding.

Shannon said this morning he can’t say if yesterday’s incident is related, but he expects police will have more information at the end of today.

“We’re looking at all possible scenarios,” he said.

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For background, read “News brief: Centralia detective asking for tips on suspected arson attempts” from Friday November 4, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Centralia police are asking the public for information to help solve suspicious fires two mornings in a row at an apartment complex at the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road.

On Wednesday, responders were advised some paper had been lit on fire at the corner of a building, but it was out before they arrived, according to the Centralia Police Department.

The following day, a fire broke out within a corridor of the same building, damaging an approximately 15 square foot area of exterior siding; the manager put it out with a fire extinguisher, according to authorities.

Centralia police detective John Panco said this morning the damaged wall has been removed so it can be sent to the state crime lab for examination and checked for possible accelerants.

The cause is undetermined, but it’s being investigated as first-degree arson, according to police.

Panco asks that anyone who knows anything about either incident to phone him at 360-330-7680.
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For background, read “News brief: Arson attempts in Centralia under investigation” from Thursday November 3, 2016, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating an attempted arson after someone found “a paper” burning next to an occupied building yesterday morning in Centralia.

The fire department and officers responded about 10:25 a.m. yesterday to the scene at the 1000 block of Scammon Creek Road. It was put out and nobody was injured, but detectives believe it was arson, according to the Centralia Police Department.

A fire crew was called again at 9:10 a.m. today when an apartment manager discovered a fire in an exterior corridor to the same building at 1013 Scammon Creek Road, according to Riverside Fire Authority.

The manager put it out with a fire extinguisher, according to Fire Capt. Scott Weinert.

“Firefighters checked the building for signs of fire extension and none were found,” Weinert wrote. “There was damage to approximately 15 square foot area of exterior siding.”

A spokesperson for the Centralia Police Department said he had no further information to release.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Washington State Supreme Court affirmed a Lewis County murder conviction last week for a case that goes back sixteen years, stemming from an argument at a campsite near Ashford.

Kenneth L. Slert has been convicted three times of killing 53-year-old John Benson of Eatonville. The two met at a hunting camp, drank together and Slert fatally shot Benson in October 2000. He maintained it was self defense.

The second-degree murder conviction was thrown out three times.

In  five to four decision, the justices said on Thursday the error at issue was harmless.

The former carpenter who lived in Tacoma has been in prison since after his first trial in 2004 serving a sentence of a little more than 23 years.