VERLOT — A man and a woman were found dead Tuesday in a campground east of Granite Falls, but investigators don’t suspect foul play.
The bodies were found close together in a makeshift campsite in a forest clearing, said Rebecca Hover, a spokeswoman with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
A car believed to belong to the pair was parked nearby, in brush just a few feet from the Mountain Loop Highway.
The area where the bodies were found is across the highway from the Red Bridge campsite in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. They were reported about 11 a.m. by a camper who walked into the Verlot Ranger Station.
Major crime detectives gathered evidence.
“We don’t believe there is foul play,” Hover said.
She declined to speculate about how the people died and would not describe any circumstances surrounding their deaths. That information is pending further investigation, she said.
Deputies closed off the westbound lane of the highway as they worked at the scene.
The bodies were at a spot popular with campers, but it’s not a formal camping area, Hover said. It’s located about seven miles east of Verlot.
Nearby campgrounds were dotted with tents, and a few people at the nearby ranger station appeared perplexed by the police presence.
The names and ages of those who died, along with their causes of death, will be released by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office. That may take several days.
Investigators said the bodies found Tuesday had no connection to an unsolved double homicide that happened in the area five years ago. The bodies of hikers Mary Cooper, 56, and Susanna Stodden, 27, were found deep in the woods along a hiking trail near Pinnacle Lake on Mount Pilchuck. They both had been shot.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com
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