MACHIAS — A slain woman’s family needs someone with courage.
They need someone to step forward and tell them what happened to Kelly Jean Sarsten, 37.
The Machias woman was killed four years ago Monday. Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives haven’t made any arrests in the slaying.
“We’ve heard rumors someone knows some things, but are afraid to say anything,” Sarsten’s sister Sandy Friedrichs said. “We want to tell them they don’t have to be afraid. We just need them to talk.”
Sarsten’s family and friends plan to gather Sunday at a Lake Stevens restaurant. They have printed up hundreds of reward posters and plan to hang them up around Snohomish County.
They are inviting Sarsten’s friends to join them.
Sarsten’s remains were found in a pool of water in the Pilchuck River not far from her Machias house. Investigators said she died of homicidal violence.
“How could another human do what was done to her?” Friedrichs said. “That human being needs to be off the streets.”
Sarsten, once a hairdresser, owned her own dump truck business, Extreme Rock. Her family said she was proud of her business, her dogs and her cozy house near the river. She’d moved there a few years before her death.
Sarsten had gathered a close group of friends in the Lake Stevens area, where she lived for more than a decade before moving to Machias.
Her friends reported Sarsten missing Aug. 19, 2004, when she didn’t show up for work. A search and rescue crew made the grim discovery in the lazy waters of the river.
Sarsten’s death is part of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office cold-case playing cards. The decks of cards have been handed out in jails and prisons in hopes of soliciting tips about unsolved homicides and missing persons cases.
Friedrichs said her family needs justice. They need to see the killer caught. The community should want Sarsten’s killer off the streets too, she said.
“We will never forget and we will never stop until the person is found,” Friedrichs said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Reward offered
Homicide victim Kelly Sarsten’s family plans to meet to hand out reward posters at 10 a.m. Sunday at Razzal’s Sports Bar and Grill, 9327 Fourth St. NE, Lake Stevens.
Sarsten was killed Aug. 18, 2004, in Machias. Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 425-388-3845 or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
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