VERLOT – The women were geared up for a hike along the popular Mount Pilchuck trail.
But something went horribly wrong.
“We have no idea what we have,” Sheriff Rick Bart said Wednesday.
A hiker trekking down the Pinnacle Lake trail told police he spotted the women’s bodies just off the path Tuesday afternoon.
Now, investigators are asking for the public’s help “to solve a homicide,” Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Rich Niebusch said.
“The victims have died of homicidal violence,” Niebusch said. “We’re asking anyone who was in the area Tuesday to call our tip line.”
The women, one believed to be in her early 20s and the other in her 40s or 50s, were last seen alive about 10 a.m. Tuesday. They were spotted at the trailhead, about six miles off the Mountain Loop Highway, Niebusch said.
A hiker called police about 2:30 p.m. to report the gruesome discovery. Deputies say the women were found about two miles from the trailhead.
The bodies were visible from the 1.8-mile trail leading to Pinnacle Lake, Niebusch said. The lake is a popular destination for hikers visiting the east shoulder of Mount Pilchuck.
Sheriff’s investigators remained tight-lipped Wednesday about what evidence they had collected at the scene. They declined to say if they had found a weapon or to speculate on how the women died.
Niebusch said on Wednesday investigators can’t rule out suicide to explain at least one of the deaths. That’s different than what he told reporters Tuesday.
The women’s names weren’t released.
“We believe we may have located family, but we won’t be certain until the medical examiner makes a positive identification,” Niebusch said.
The medical examiner is expected to do autopsies today. It will be up to him to determine how the women died.
Their bodies were carried down the steep trail Wednesday afternoon. Deputies had sealed off the area Tuesday and investigators kept watch over the scene overnight.
Detectives and Snohomish County Search and Rescue volunteers scoured the rugged terrain for evidence.
Police did not have a suspect Wednesday, Niebusch said.
Investigators were expected to search through the women’s vehicle today. It was found parked at the trailhead.
Niebusch said it was too early to say if the crime was random. He advised hikers to be cautious.
The sheriff’s office planned to coordinate with the U.S. Forest Service and add extra patrols to the area.
Folks chatting outside the nearby Green Gables General Store on Wednesday said they were waiting to hear how the women had died, but weren’t overly concerned.
“We’d like to know what happened. It could be that it’s not even dangerous to anyone else,” said Helen Woodson, who lives in Robe Valley.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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