Further investigation of Lake Stevens man’s death needed

A teen in our community has died. A teen in our community has been found hanged. My heart is full of love and compassion for his family and my head is full of questions and concerns for our community.

Ben’s death was initially ruled as suicide. Then his death was ruled as “undetermined.”

Ben went missing for weeks, and searches of the area near where he lived did not yield any discoveries of his whereabouts. Then in January, his body was found in clear view hanging from a tree in that same area that had been previously searched.

I applaud our local law enforcement’s decision to continue the investigation after initially closing it. But it is not enough. Let’s get our local law enforcement more resources from the FBI to fully investigate this case.

We do not have all the facts. Ben’s death may have been a suicide. We do not know. We have so much more to learn.

The FBI should complete a comprehensive investigation in Ben Keita’s death. Ben’s family and our community deserve no less.

Suzanne Quigley

Lake Stevens