By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Deputies are trying to figure out the identity of a dead woman found stuffed into a sleeping bag in the passenger compartment of a pickup truck last night when a Tenino man was stopped by a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy in Tenino.
Bernard K. Howell, 26, was arrested for second-degree murder and first-degree theft, sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said this morning.
The body of a woman somewhere between ages 35 and 50 was found in Howell’s Nissan pickup which was pulled over near Tenino’s elementary school, Mealy said.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office reported she appears to be the victim of homicidal violence.
“There is some trauma, we’re not elaborating,” Mealy said.
It began when a deputy was flagged down on state Route 507 near Old Military Road Southeast about 8:15 p.m. by a man who said he saw somebody loading a body into a truck and the truck would be on Old Military Road, according to Mealy. The man then told the deputy the truck was just then passing them by.
Mealy said: The truck was pulled over near Parkside Elementary by the deputy and a Tenino police officer. The deputy began unwrapping the large bundle he found, felt for a pulse and the fire department was called. They determined she was dead.
She had no identification on her.
Howell was booked into the Thurston County Jail.
“His story was he found the body, wrapped her up and put her in in the truck to save the family the cost of the funeral,” Mealy said. He did not say where Howell said he was taking her.
Detectives are looking into the possibility the female may be a woman from Yelm who has lived there about a year and has no known family in the area, according to Mealy.
Deputies got a search warrant for the truck and other search warrants, including one for a RAV4 vehicle and one for a Tenino residence, Mealy said.
Detectives today are searching the area of Mull Road and state Route 507 along the Chehalis Western Trail suspecting that’s where the woman may have been attacked. A vehicle found near there belongs to the Yelm woman, who has not been seen since yesterday morning, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. They believe Howell stole it after the crime.
The sheriff’s office reported they have not determined a motive and it appears the two did not know each other.
A stretch of state Route 507 closed in both directions overnight as officers investigated was reopened just before 5 o’clock this morning.
An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.
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This news story was updated at 11:10 a.m. on Monday Aug. 9, 2010
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Vanda Boone was my dear friend, she moved out of New York City to have a quiet life in Yelm. She was very spiritual and helped people with her skills of massage and Shiatsu therapy. I am terrified with the news, we were friends for over 18 years. Thanks to the man that told the policy about this lunatic and I hope they will not let him come out any time soon! Also we want the investigation to far as to find if this man also killed the other women. I should not let this case be closed just because she has no family around, we are her family now, and we want justice!
Odd that these tragedies becomes ‘yesterdays papers’. i hope that virgina nall is all right and that so are all the other homeless gypsies.
I Was wondering about the woman you fount and was making sure it wasnt my friend Virgina Nall i havent seen her for a while and shes homeless in centralia.