Updated at 4:40 p.m.
PE ELL MOLESTATION SUSPECT PICKED UP IN TEXAS
• A 41-year-old former Pe Ell man who vanished after he was charged five years ago with molesting his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter was located and arrested yesterday west of Dallas by Texas Rangers.
Michael T. Yeager
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office detectives have been looking for Michael T. Yeager since 2008, at one point even conducting SWAT operations where they thought he was camping in the woods around Pe Ell, according to the sheriff’s office. Local detectives learned family member’s of Yeager were assisting him by giving him a place to live in Quitman, Texas and asked the Rangers for assistance, according to Sheriff Steve Mansfield. Yeager was arrested late yesterday afternoon and will be extradited back to Lewis County. Mansfield said Yeager was living out in the woods and tried to escape by water in a canoe. A Ranger tracked him down and found he had a large amount of survival gear, a rifle and a fishing pole. Mansfield said. The case involves an allegation he molested the girl over a several year span while they resided together in Pe Ell, according to the sheriff’s office.
COPPER WIRE, PIPES, MISSING FROM ROCK PIT
• Somebody stole stole thousands of dollars worth of materials and equipment from a business on the 800 block of state Route 507 in an overnight break in, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy called to the rock pit about 9 a.m. yesterday learned that 250 feet of copper pipe and 100 feet of copper wire were among the items taken, according to the sheriff’s office.
THEFT FROM RENTAL BUSINESS
• Centralia police are investigating a theft from a household furnishings rental center on the 2000 block of Borst Avenue. A report made to police yesterday afternoon indicated a customer stopped making payments on a living room set and a television, according to police.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter