Detectives begin to examine the interior of a car after getting a search warrant on Sunday.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Chehalis police say it appears the woman found dead yesterday inside a car at K-Mart died from a gunshot wound.
Officers responded just after 10 a.m. yesterday to a call of a suspicious death at the 1200 block of Northwest Louisiana Avenue, according to the Chehalis Police Department.
The light green 2001 Kia Rio was situated in a parking space at the far south end of the lot.
Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said a gun was found with the woman.
A search warrant was obtained, evidence was collected and the car impounded, according to police.
Police are awaiting a report from the coroner to confirm the identity, according to Bailey.
There was identification found with her, but the car is registered to someone else, Bailey said. The vehicle has Washington license plates, according to police.
As of this morning, nobody had contacted police about a missing person, Bailey said.
It’s the third time in six weeks a person has been discovered deceased inside a vehicle in the city of Chehalis.
The cause and manner of death in the previous two cases have not yet been released, although they did not include gunshot wounds, according to Bailey.
On April 21, the body of a 16-year-old boy was discovered inside his car parked at the Twin City Town Center, also on Northwest Louisiana Avenue. Cole Burbank of Camas had been reported missing eight days earlier by his parents and police subsequently concluded his Honda Accord had been parked at the shopping center since the day he disappeared.
Early on the morning of May 6, a man was found dead after a car fire, in a Honda Accord parked on residential property just south of the Yard Birds Shopping Center off Northeast Kresky Avenue. Robert A. Mansker, 48, was from Kelso.
The Lewis County coroner has said he is awaiting the results of various tests in those cases.
Bailey said the police department will release details in the new case as they become available.
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For background, read “Body discovered in vehicle in Chehalis store’s parking lot” from Sunday June 4, 2017, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter