Sniffing for a robber, police dog finds a body
Published 11:10 pm Friday, March 20, 2009
EVERETT — A police dog made a bizarre discovery early Friday morning while on the trail of a robbery suspect in Everett: a dead man.
Officers had been called to investigate a robbery at the AM/PM convenience store in the 200 block of SE Everett Mall Way just after midnight, Everett police Sgt. John DeRousse said.
A man passed a note, demanding money from the store. He then fled on a bicycle, DeRousse said.
Police swarmed the area to look for the suspect.
That’s when Hutch, an Everett police dog, sniffed out the corpse a few blocks north of the store that had been robbed.
The dead man matched the general description of the robbery suspect and a bicycle was found nearby, DeRousse said. There was no obvious sign of trauma or a clear explanation how the man died.
“It’s so unique. It’s not something we would ever expect to happen,” DeRousse said.
No other suspects were found in the area.
Major crimes detectives are investigating and expect to collect additional evidence to try to determine whether the dead man is connected to the robbery.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office said the man died Friday.
The man’s name wasn’t immediately released pending notification of the man’s family. Further investigation is necessary to determine how the man died, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Everett police tip line at 425-257-8450.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
