FORT LEWIS — The case of a 16-year-old civilian girl who died at a Fort Lewis barracks was possibly drug-related, Army investigators say.
Chris Grey, a spokesman at the Criminal Investigation Command headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va., wouldn’t specify Wednesday what drug or drugs may have been involved. Toxicology results from are not expected for at least a week.
Grey said the dead girl and another 16-year-old civilian girl who was found passed out at 3:30 a.m. Sunday were acquainted with a soldier in the barracks.
The surviving girl was in stable and improving condition Wednesday at Madigan Army Medical Center, said Joseph Piek, a Fort Lewis spokesman.
“Once she is in a state that she can be interviewed by the Criminal Investigation Division, I’m sure the investigators will do so to gather the facts about what the girls were doing on post,” Piek said.
Grey and Piek said investigators had not released information on how the girls entered the post and what happened before a 911 call.
Both girls are from the south Puget Sound area and are not military dependents.
The girl who died attended Lakes High School for her freshman year last year. She dropped out to take online courses last fall, at the beginning of her sophomore year, but re-enrolled at the school earlier this month, said Kim Prentice, a spokeswoman for the Clover Park School District.
Prentice said she did not believe the other girl was enrolled in the district.
Piek said part of the investigation will focus on policies for allowing civilian visitors on post and for guests at barracks. No overnight visitors are allowed in the barracks, and authorized visitors must leave by 2 a.m. on weekends.
More critically, any minors who aren’t a member of their host’s immediate family must be accompanied in the barracks by a parent or guardian.
Anyone with a valid Department of Defense identification is allowed to escort a civilian — even an unrelated minor — onto the post. Piek said that policy is under review.
“To what extent these policies were followed will be a subject of the ongoing investigation,” Piek said.
The manager of a dry cleaning store near Fort Lewis told The Seattle Times she often sees teenage girls approach young soldiers at a parking lot across the street from her shop and ask for rides onto the post.
“It’s easy for them to get on the post. It happens all the time,” Plaza Cleaners manager Maria Dibbens said. “They want to get on base and see the young GIs.”
The Army initially issued a statement about the girls Monday afternoon, about 36 hours after the 911 call. Piek said it took the Army until then because the events took place during a holiday weekend and gathering information took time.
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