The Snohomish County Medical Examiner has not been able to determine how a 19-year-old Granite Falls man died, or whether the death was a homicide, accident or suicide, the office announced Tuesday.
The office has been examining the skeletal remains of Brandon Riley Kempf since October when they were found by hikers in a mountainous area east of Granite Falls.
Kempf disappeared in August 2005. For six months, a man who bragged about killing Kempf was jailed and charged with murder. The murder charges later were dismissed.
Police cordoned off a section of 214th Place SW Tuesday night on a report that a man in his 20s barricaded himself in a house and threatened to kill himself.
A tactical police team from several south Snohomish County departments surrounded the house while a negotiator attempted to get the man to surrender from the home, in the 2700 block of 214th Place.
No other household member was in danger, Lynnwood police spokeswoman Shannon Session said.
From Herald staff reports
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