LAKE STEVENS — It’s been nearly eight months since Summer Smith’s remains were found among some brambles in the Lake Stevens area.
Homicide detectives continue to investigate and work through the evidence collected at the scene. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the 18-year-old or her death is encouraged to call the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.
Smith’s mother told detectives she last heard from her daughter Nov. 19. She sent Smith a text message in early December, worried that they hadn’t communicated in a couple of weeks. Someone replied to the text, but Smith’s mother told investigators the tone and content of the message seemed out of character for her daughter. She called Smith but was directly connected to voicemail until Dec. 12. That’s when the phone appears to have been shut off or taken out of service.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Smith’s phone records. They suspect someone other than the teenager used her phone. There is evidence that the messages were sent after Smith died, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Smith was seen in the Everett area in November, where she was known to use public transportation. She was listed as homeless in a police report from May 2014.
Investigators don’t believe she has any ties to the location where her remains were found in the 12000 block of Seventh Place SE.
A man hired to clean up around the property discovered her skull Jan. 3 near some heavy brambles. Detectives later found two plastic trash bags discarded on some bushes nearby. The bags contained bloody bedding, a knife with a broken and bloody blade, screwdrivers, women’s clothing and paperwork for Smith. The contents were frozen together, indicating that they’d been in the cold for an extended amount of time.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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