BELLINGHAM — Officers searching for a 10-week-old boy say they’ve found the body of an infant in a wooded area and opened a homicide case.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday it is awaiting positive identification of the body, and the father of the baby is in custody.
Spokesman Joe Bates said no charges have been filed. He said the body was about a mile from the boy’s home, a doublewide trailer east of Custer.
A search began Friday.
Officers said the 42-year-old father told them he put his son to bed Thursday night but woke to find the child gone.
The man’s 26-year-old wife, Brooke Johnson, the baby’s mother, was jailed Thursday after being sentenced to prison for robbery.
Winthrop: 51,000 pot plants found
Drug task force investigators have reported the discovery of 51,000 marijuana plants at five sites in north central Washington.
Okanogan County Frank Rogers said 30,000 pot plants were removed Tuesday from four sites in the Methow Valley. Three people were arrested at a site near Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop.
Meanwhile, Colville tribal police asked for help in finding whoever was growing more than 21,000 marijuana plants on the reservation.
Tribal police were joined by police from Republic and Spokane, U.S. Border Patrol and FBI agents and sheriff’s deputies from three counties in an eradication effort that began Tuesday. The pot was valued at about $21 million.
Seattle: Motorcycle rider crashes in stunt, dies
The Washington State Patrol reported that 22-year-old Shane Crowell of Olympia lost control of his motorcycle late Saturday night on an onramp to I-90 near Qwest and Safeco fields in Seattle.
According to investigators, Crowell was attempting stunts when he was thrown over the handlebars of a 2007 Suzuki GSXR10 and over a guardrail, falling about 100 feet.
Ferry Wenatchee damaged after hard landing
The state ferry Wenatchee has been damaged in a hard landing in fog at Colman Dock in Seattle, leaving one boat on the Seattle-Bainbridge Island run.
State ferry officials said that the Wenatchee will remain out of service until repairs are made.
Ferry passengers told the Seattle Times and KOMO-TV the Wenatchee seemed to be moving faster than usual when it came out of the fog shortly before hitting the dock.
A ferry system spokeswoman, Susan Harris, said one elderly person was slightly injured. She said that she doesn’t have any details on damage to the boat or the ferry slip it was using, number two.
Ferry system and Coast Guard investigations are planned.
Yakima: Mountain biker found dead
A mountain biker has been found dead at the bottom of a canyon east of Yakima, and authorities say there is no indication of foul play.
Yakima County sheriff’s deputies said the body of Timothy Hager, 42, of Yakima was found Saturday afternoon north of Terrace Heights. He had been reported three hours overdue on a solo bike ride when an acquaintance found the crash scene.
Investigators said Hager apparently lost control on a steep descent and was thrown from his bike.
An autopsy was pending.
Easton: Motor home fire causes 20-mile I-90 backup
A motor home fire spread to a hillside east of Snoqualmie Pass, causing a 20-mile backup for westbound traffic on I-90.
Washington State Patrol troopers said the motor home caught fire for unknown reasons about 1:10 p.m. Sunday near Easton. Westbound traffic on I-90 backed up to Cle Elum by the time one lane was reopened at 3:39 p.m.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Idaho: Vandals hit Sandpoint train depot
Looters have stolen truckloads of bricks from the historic Sandpoint train depot in northern Idaho, and vandals have carved racial epithets in the walls.
Aric Spence, who chairs the Sandpoint Historic Preservation Commission’s depot subcommittee, said a portion of the 93-year-old station’s brick walkway has been stolen in recent weeks.
He also said a large beveled mirror and a number of brass toilet paper holders have disappeared from the station’s bathroom.
The station has been closed to the public for several weeks because of a leaking roof. “I think people think it’s going to be torn down,” Spence told the Bonner County Daily Bee. “They think it’s going to go away, and they just see it as their time to grab a piece of whatever.”
The depot was built in 1916 for the Northern Pacific Railroad and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
It is now owned by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and has been a stop for the Empire Builder, which runs between Chicago and Seattle. But Amtrak officials have said they are considering dropping the station from the route.
From Herald news services
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