Hurricanes put murder investigation on hold

COUPEVILLE – Island County Sheriff’s Office detectives are looking for a Florida man suspected in a fatal shooting on Whidbey Island, but the probe has been delayed by hurricanes Charley and Frances.

James Edward Huden, 51, was last seen Tuesday night at a motel in Naples, Fla., about 70 miles south of his home in Punta Gorda, Island County Sheriff Mike Hawley said.

Huden is wanted for investigation of the Dec. 26, 2003, shooting death of Russel “Russ” Douglas, 31, who was found dead in a car in Freeland, Hawley said.

Huden grew up on Whidbey Island and had returned for a Christmas visit with a friend from Henderson, Nev., who was also a former island resident, the sheriff’s office said. Detectives have searched the friend’s home and car for evidence.

Two weeks ago, detectives in Las Cruces, N.M., recovered a semi-automatic .38-caliber pistol believed to be the murder weapon. Huden had given the pistol to a friend in the Las Vegas area for safekeeping and the friend later moved, the Island County sheriff’s office said.

The gun ” was a big break for us, a huge break,” Hawley said.

In August, a team of investigators went to Punta Gorda and talked with Huden, returning to Washington state days before Hurricane Charley wreaked catastrophic damage in southwest Florida.

Their investigation remained on hold Friday because of severe weather forecasts for Hurricane Frances over the weekend, Hawley said.

Detectives are also still investigating the unrelated slaying of Tamara Mattson, 39. Her body was found Dec. 9 on a trail near Camano Island State Park with severe injuries to her neck and head.

Hawley urged anyone with information about the deaths of Douglas or Mattson to call the Island County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 360-679-7319.

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