Lewis County Sirens.com

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

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Searchers are on the ground looking for a Pacific Crest Trail hiker who hasn’t checked in or been heard from in almost three weeks, when he left a convenience store near White Pass.

Kris Fowler began his trek five and a half months ago in Mexico and is heading north to Snoqualmie Pass, according to the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office. His trail name is “Sherpa”.

Search and Rescue Coordinator Sgt. Randy Briscoe said he’s got teams out on the trail today.

Yesterday he had help from citizens in Packwood who made the 26-mile hike from White Pass to Chinook Pass,” he said.

“Folks in Packwood are organizing another search from Snoqualmie to Chinook Pass, I’m told,” Briscoe said this morning.

Fowler, who is 34 years old according to his step mother, lives near her in the Dayton, Ohio area. He started his travels with a college friend but they agreed they may or may not stick together the entire way, Sally Guyton Fowler said.

“He and I had a deal we’d keep in touch,” Guyton Fowler said. “I talked to him the end of September and he texted a friend on Oct. 12.”

By the end of last week she and his father began to get worried, she said.

The family reached out to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office on Friday and a deputy checked the area and then learned Fowler had been at the Cracker Barrel store on U.S. Highway 12 near White Pass on Oct. 12, according to the sheriff’s office.

The minimart is on the east side of the county line, so they notified the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office of the information they had, as well as Pierce County.

Sgt. Briscoe said he was notified on Sunday of the possibly missing hiker.

Briscoe said he learned Fowler had been to the store on Oct. 10, asked for a ride into Packwood to get supplies and then returned to the store two days later. He was last seen walking out of the Cracker Barrel at 3 p.m. on Oct. 12, he said.

“He told the clerk he was going to proceed to Snoqualmie Pass,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe said he has aircraft ready to go, but yesterday and this morning, they were grounded because of the weather.

There’s been no activity on Fowler’s cell phone, he said.

Briscoe said the trail from White Pass to Snoqualmie Pass is 102 miles, he’s told. His step mother said he’d previously been moving 20 to 25 miles each day.

There was a terrible storm on Oct. 14, so Fowler could have decided to hunker down, Briscoe said.

“Maybe he’s not overdue, maybe he’s just trudging through and we’ll see him come out,” Briscoe said.

Meanwhile, sheriff’s office’s in Pierce and Kittitas counties have been notified and Briscoe is trying to get as many people and agencies along the route involved as he can.

Fowler is 6-foot 2-inches tall and 150 pounds, with blond hair and a modest beard.

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Bruce Kimsey said this morning that one of his sergeants learned from the Cracker Barrel clerk that Fowler also made a comment about maybe going to Naches to get work at a winery.

“She felt he headed north though,” Kimsey said.

Guyton Fowler was getting on a plane today and plans to stay at the Packwood Inn.

“They want me there in support, in case he needs medical attention,” she said.

A Facebook page has been set up to share information about Fowler. It is called “Bring Kris Fowler/Sherpa Home“

Updated

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The executive director of Valley View Health Center said this morning it appears a malfunction in the HVAC system ignited the fire that destroyed its Winlock clinic over the weekend.

Steven Clark said the fire investigator is reasonably certain of the cause.

Courtesy image / Zachary Wichert

“The heating and air conditioning system basically burned it down,” Clark said.

The system had recently been worked on, he said.

Four fire departments responded to the nighttime blaze on the the 600 block of Cemetery Road in Winlock. A passerby called 911 about 2 a.m. on Saturday to report the fire.

Lewis County Fire District 15 described the single-story building as a total loss, with its roof already collapsing as they arrived.

Clark said he’s positive they will rebuild.

Valley View Health Center, based in Chehalis, has numerous clinics in Lewis County and the surrounding area.

They will soon begin looking for temporary quarters for the Winlock location, Clark said.

In the meantime, the one provider and four support staff will move down to the Toledo clinic and see their patients there, he said.

Patients who have already scheduled appointments in Winlock should just keep their same appointment, but do it at the Toledo clinic, Clark said.

It’s located at 117 Ramsey Way in Toledo. Patients can call 360-864-4400 with questions, Clark said.

Update: On the morning of Wednesday Nov. 2, Toledo Police Department Chief John Brockmueller said their part of the investigation is finished and confirmed the fire appeared to have begun in the heat pump outside the building. The insurance company will take over, he indicated.
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For background, read “News brief: Overnight fire claims Winlock doctors’ office” from Saturday October 29, 2016, here

Washington state forensic anthropologist Dr. Kathy Taylor gives instructions to participants before they start looking for signs of buried “bodies.”

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Dr. Kathy Taylor reads bones.

The state forensic anthropologist works at the King County Medical Examiner’s Office but assists agencies all around Washington when they need an expert.

Detective Kathleen Decker, of the King County Sheriff’s Office, has been a tracker for 20 years. She can read blades of grass at an outdoor crime scene and count, for example, how many people have been there.

Sharon Ward is a Portland attorney by day, but she’s also a tracker. And a handler for a human remains detection dog. Her 2-year-old Rottweiler Vali’s nose is so discerning, he knows the difference between the remains of a person and and those of an animal.

On a recent day, the three professionals brought their talents to a rural Chehalis property to conduct field training for nearly 30 law enforcement officers from around the state.

“We know there are graves out there, go find them,” Taylor told their students.

Human bones, plastic skeletons, shovels and even a pigs head hanging from a tree for a period of time were among the props and tools used for the exercises that day.

Lewis County Chief Deputy Coroner Dawn Harris taught the attendees about collecting evidence, such as insects from the pig, but they can all learn even more from each other, Harris said.

“The expertise that everyone brings to the table is so important to what we do,” Harris said.

It’s the third time the Lewis County Coroner’s Office has hosted the two-day course.

Last year, Taylor, Decker and Ward shared their expertise with a group that included all the local deputy coroners. They used to hold the course every summer, up until about three or four years ago and for whatever reason that ended, Taylor said.

Then Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod volunteered to help restart the sessions.

“Warren stepped up and said he wanted to do it,” Taylor said. “It’s not an easy thing to put together at the last minute.”

A primary component of the two-day class is to raise awareness among professionals about the resources available to them, when it comes to bones and buried bodies.

For example, nowadays if a deputy in East Lewis County is called because someone has found a bone, the deputy can take a photo with their phone and it can be forwarded to Taylor.

“A big issue is bear paws,” McLeod said. “When the fur is off, it looks just like a human hand; we’ve had several of those.”

She also can make an important determination about the next step, deciding if human, then is it a modern or historical burial.

Attendees got one day of classroom training, including how to write a search warrant for such a situation, from Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer.

Their day on the rural Chehalis property began with demonstrations on tracking, the entomology involving the pig remains and then digging before lunch.

Plans are in place to host two courses next year, one in May and another in September. The registration fee for participants is $100 per person, but McLeod plans to raise that to $200 for future classes.

McLeod says his office wants to be more public oriented and do more than just wait around for the phone to ring.

“There’s a need for this, and also it’s revenue for the county,” he said.

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Attendees begin digging during the field portion of the class.