VERLOT — For Seattle school librarian Mary Cooper, the day was going to be a chance to spend time with her oldest daughter, Susanna Stodden, on a day hike in the Cascades.
They set out a year ago today.
Hikers discovered the two women, 56 and 27, shot dead along Mount Pilchuck’s Pinnacle Lake Trail on July 11, 2006.
No arrests have been made. Police say they have no suspects. Fear and grief remain.
“We’re well aware that this is the one-year mark,” Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said Tuesday. “We understand this case has been upsetting and frustrating for people, especially Mary’s and Susanna’s family and friends. … The fact that their loved ones have been taken in such a violent way is devastating.”
Even though the road to the trailhead was washed out in last fall’s floods, surviving family members still plan today to hike to Pinnacle Lake where the shootings occurred. They’ll walk the final mile or so on forest roads.
Later today, an outdoor dance and community walk around Seattle’s Green Lake are planned in the women’s memory.
“We’re trying to find ways to heal,” said David Stodden, 58, husband of Mary Cooper and father of Susanna Stodden.David Stodden said his surviving daughters, Elisa, 25, and Joanna, 22, now focus on living their lives peacefully and finding personal connections in their grief. He estimates that he spends about a third of his time focused on the investigation.
“Most people at this point, they want the case solved,” Stodden said.
The sheriff’s office continues to field tips, Hover said.
Investigators have shared information with FBI profilers but won’t discuss whether that has produced results.
“Detectives are not going to do anything that might compromise the investigation,” she said. “Releasing details and engaging in speculation might harm the case.”
Generally it can become more difficult to solve a crime as time goes on, crime experts said. It also can mean that people who have valuable information may be more willing to share what they know.
It’s not a good idea for an active police investigation to share details about the case, said Robert Keppel, a former homicide detective who worked on the Green River killings.
“Don’t let anyone, like the offender, know what you’re thinking,” he said.
At times, the lack of information from the sheriff’s office has been frustrating, Stodden said.
He’s often asked about the investigation’s status.
“I thought this would be solved in six months,” he said.
Police can only work with the evidence they were able to recover at the crime scene and the tips that have come their way, Hover said.
“It’s impossible to say when this case might be solved,” she said.
Through it all, the deputies continue to focus on Mary and Susanna, Hover said.
“We want to find the person or people who did this and we want to bring them to justice.”
Herald writer Diana Hefley contributed to this story.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@ heraldnet.com.
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