Sheriff’s Office: Dead man was local, living out of his truck

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An autopsy conducted yesterday revealed nothing suspicious about the body of a man found in a vehicle south of Chehalis on Sunday morning, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office suggested yesterday the man was most likely living in the pickup truck. They have plans to test a propane heater found in the back of the truck with the deceased.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey says he’s an older man with ties to Lewis County and with a previous address here, until he was “displaced”, became homeless and began sleeping in his vehicle.

Early on Saturday morning, a sheriff’s deputy tagged the truck with a  24-hour notice it would be towed. The brown or tan in color 1983 Ford F150 with a canopy and Washington plates was parked on the shoulder at Southwest Interstate Avenue and Bishop Road, according to the sheriff’s office.

A deputy returned early Sunday morning, called for a tow truck and discovered there was a dead person in the back, according to Kimsey.

Neither his name nor his age have been released. The coroner’s office yesterday stated they have positively identified him, but are not releasing his name until his legal next of kin can be located and notified.

Making a determination about the cause and manner of death won’t come until after toxicology test results come back, according to Coroner Warren McLeod. He indicated that can take up to 90 days.

At least two people who work in the area have said they saw the truck parked in the same spot all last week.

Kimsey said the sheriff’s office had no information the man had been reported missing.
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For background, read “Propane heater examined in death of person inside truck” from Monday January 8, 2018, here

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2018 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Sheriff’s Office: Dead man was local, living out of his truck”

  1. XDs says:
    Monday, January 15, 2018 at 10:37 am

    And that comment wasn’t towards the deceased, it is directed towards all the able bodied street people.

  2. XDs says:
    Friday, January 12, 2018 at 7:27 pm

    People choose to be the way they are. In this economy if you aren’t working & bettering yourself it is because you don’t want to.

  3. Fifi says:
    Friday, January 12, 2018 at 10:27 am

    this story saddens me. Homelessness is so huge in our little area. It is sad that he had no family or friend here to take him in or help him out. So many judge the homeless as tweakers and don’t give them a second glance. It is also sad that he layed there dead in that truck for how many days ???????
    COMPASSION IS KEY