Fred Hutch: Body found in Mountlake Terrace is missing employee

Fred Hutch: Body found in Mountlake Terrace is missing employee

The body of 54-year-old Cheryl DeBoer was found in a wooded area along Cedar Way in southeast Mountlake Terrace by a volunteer search party.


Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center officials said the body of a woman found in a Mountlake Terrace culvert Sunday afternoon has been identified as its missing employee, 54-year-old Cheryl DeBoer.

Police at the scene have not confirmed the identity.


However, Han Nachtrieb, vice president of Fred Hutch human resources, released a statement stating that the body had been identified as DeBoer’s.

“It is with deep regret and sorrow that we’ve recently had confirmation that Cheryl DeBoer, missing since February 8, has been found. Her remains were located this afternoon near the King/Snohomish border,” Nachtrieb wrote. “Cheryl has been in the hearts and minds of her many friends and co-workers, and we are deeply saddened by this tragic news.”

Rhonda Curry, a spokeswoman at the research center, said the statement was issued after a television station told her it had spoken with the family and received confirmation of the identity.

A woman who answered the phone Sunday at the Mountlake Terrace residence where DeBoer lived with her husband declined to comment. “Not interested,” she said, hanging up the phone.

Searchers have been combing neighborhoods, parks and woods in the area since DeBoer failed to show up at work at Fred Hutch on Monday. Dozens of volunteers have been scouring the area around the Mountlake Terrace Park and Ride where she was last seen, according to Mountlake Terrace police.

DeBoer’s husband found her car Monday in the 23400 block of 58th Avenue Southwest, just east of the park-and-ride lot near Veterans Memorial Park, an area used for overflow parking for the transit center.

Around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, a group of volunteers found the body in a large, grassy area that’s maintained by the city near 244th Street Southwest and Cedar Way, about a mile and a half southeast of where DeBoer’s vehicle was located, Police Cmdr. Kevin Pickard said during a 3:30 p.m. media briefing.

“They came here just to broaden their search,” Pickard said.

Homicide detectives and crime-scene investigators were gathering at the site.

“Our hearts are very heavy right now,” Pickard said.

DeBoer was supposed to meet a friend at the Mountlake Terrace Park and Ride lot and carpool to work, police said last week.

She texted her friend around 7 a.m. Monday indicating she had left her work ID badge at home and after fetching it would catch a bus instead, police said.

Her husband reported her missing midday Monday after he heard she did not show up for work.

Assistant Police Chief Pete Caw said Wednesday that records show DeBoer didn’t use her ORCA pass for a bus ride that morning, though she could have used cash. But there had been no activity on her cellphone or bank account, he said at the time.

After DeBoer’s disappearance, dozens of volunteers joined law enforcement to search for her in Mountlake Terrace and the downtown Seattle area where DeBoer typically got off the bus.

******* 
iconoclasm 28 minutes ago
very sad.  at least there's some closure now.  just hope they catch whoever is responsible.

from the photos, that looks to be just across cedar way from where aaron ybarra, the spu shooter, lived.
************

chelly 4 hours ago
so sorry

********** 
hunt12 4 hours ago
Tragic. Not that a forgotten badge should be a main point in all this. But I personally wish all companies would switch biometric security. Nobody should have to turn back around or alter plans for a forgotten badge. Hope answers for the family will come in time.

********
25cents 4 hours ago
Probably unlikely, but there is still a possibility it could have been accidental.

Either way it is a sad ending to this story.
*******

anotherguy 5 hours ago
How do humans do this to one another?  I don't get it.
*******
user1086984 5 hours ago
Brendan Dassey just confessed.
********
say what 6 hours ago
It seems odd her employer would make the announcement. Not police or a family member.

I have a theory but I'll save it.
********

The Crappy Totals 7 hours ago
I hope authorities are able to quickly determine what happened to this woman.  Condolences to her friends and family who worked so hard to find her.
********

Suspea 8 hours ago
Leave those poor people alone ... sick reporters!  The police may want to check on the good fellows our governor's prison officials let loose last  month.
*******************

amazinggazing 8 hours ago
I am bothered that after she was positively identified, someone from the press had the need to call the residence for  comment. Really? They just found out she was found dead and you can't give the family even 24 hours before bothering them. Shame on you
*************************
user1086984 5 hours ago
@amazinggazing Apparently you are not familiar with the press.  No surprise.
*********

mercedesaug 8 hours ago
That's really not how you want this kind of story to end. So sad, you can be on your way to work and ...in broad daylight.
*********
smackthepony 8 hours ago
Tragic. My heart goes out to her family.
******************
farawaynow 10 hours ago
If this turns out to be the body of Cheryl DeBoer, sympathies and prayers to her family.  Rest in peace, Cheryl, and may the authorities find out who did this to you and arrest them quickly.