Body parts found in Auburn creek

Associated Press

AUBURN — King County sheriff’s investigators recovered decomposing human remains from the steep banks of a creek Sunday, one day after a fisherman spotted a boot sticking out of from a pile of rocks and debris.

The remains — two legs found side by side — were handed over to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

"We need the medical examiner to take a look and at least determine the sex before we go any further," Sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart said.

Investigators were still searching as nightfall approached Sunday and planned to continue sifting through debris today, Urquhart said.

Before removing the remains, deputies gridded off a search area and surrounded it with a makeshift dam designed to keep the rain from washing away evidence.

"You never know what evidence you have in a situation like this," Urquhart said. "We believe this is most likely a homicide, so we’re treating it as such … working from the outside in. It’s very labor intensive."

Investigators were collecting debris, and photographing and videotaping the scene. Divers were searching the bed of Mill Creek at the site, about a mile upstream from where a human skull, tailbone and pelvis were found in late January.

It was unclear whether the remains found at the two sites were from the same person.

A fisherman was working his way up Mill Creek, near Highway 18 east of Auburn, when he noticed a boot sticking out of the debris early Saturday afternoon, Urquhart said.

Investigators decided not to remove the remains Saturday night, saying they did not want to make mistakes in the dark.

Two deputies watched the site overnight.

A detective from the Auburn Police Department, which is heading up the investigation into the remains found in January, was observing Sunday to see if any connections were made between the two discoveries.

A detective with the Green River Task Force also was on site Sunday, though Urquhart said there is no evidence to link the bones to the serial killings believed to number at least 49 from 1982-84. An Auburn man, 52-year-old Gary Ridgway, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in the deaths of four women on the list of Green River victims.

The medical examiner’s office determined the pelvis found in January likely belonged to a white female 30 years old or younger. She may have been missing up to two years.

Detectives have been combing missing person’s reports, but have not yet identified her.