WA WA - Delmar Wayne Sample, 52, Centralia, 4 Mar 2005

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BUMP!
14 years ago this month Jefferson County SAR, volunteers and friends of Del searched high and low for him after his sudden mysterious disappearance, all to no avail. Still no trace to this day.
He is missed!
 
A missing poster photo caught my eye in a restaurant many years ago ... I recognized Del instantly. It's been 14 years of wondering HOW & WHY this fine man just vanished.
 
Delmar.jpg

Just a bump for Del!
 
Penny4YourThoughts said:
Israel Keyes: General Discussion

This Delmar reference came from the IK thread.
Click to expand...

Thank you, as always, Penny! I've posted back on the IK thread.
I'm not quite sure why I have such a soft spot for Del, but I presume it was because his ex-girlfriend had nothing but wonderful things to say about him and how he treated her son. AND, because his case was just pushed aside. <sigh>
 
Focusing recently on the Laura Macke case (missing hiker in Olympic National Park) brought back memories of Delmar's case. His truck was found abandoned not far from there. So I thought I'd dust off my notes and summarize what we know.

Key facts:
Delmar disappeared around Friday Mar 4 2005. He lived in Onalaska WA, south of Centralia. He was last seen shortly before 11am on CCTV filling his truck up with gas near Harrison Ave & Hwy 5 in Centralia/Chemanis.

His red and white 1992 Ford R-10 pickup truck was found locked and abandoned at a roadside pullout on South Shore Road near Lake Quinault in Quinault, Washington, near the Fletcher Canyon trailhead. The vehicle had been reported as suspiciously abandoned on Sunday March 6, as it didn't have an overnight parking permit.

Del's sleeping bag and food were found locked inside the vehicle. There were no signs of foul play and no indication of his whereabouts.

He had told people he planned to travel to Tillamook, Oregon. His truck was not found along that route, but his loved ones stated he frequently changed his travel plans at short notice.

Authorities believe Sample may have had his newly purchased 24-inch red Mt. Fury Roadmaster mountain bicycle with him. It has not been recovered. No bicycle tracks were found near his vehicle even though it was a bit muddy there.
Apparently he didn't take his GPS with him, which he normally did. [I'm not sure if his friends meant that it was left in his truck or left at home. It must have been found in order for them to make that comment.]

Friends and family indicated that he had seemed upbeat and not depressed. He was helpful, kind and well-liked by his friends and colleagues. Del worked as a pharmacist at WalMart in Chemanis (Centralia). He was extremely reliable and it was highly unlike him to not show up to work.

FBI has cleared Israel Keyes as a suspect in Del's disappearance.

Possible scenarios:
1. self harm (but why hasn't his bike been found? Seems out of character.)
2. accident (where could he have gone on his bike from where his vehicle was found? Why hasn't his bike been found?)
3. took off for another life (why? Who would he be running away from? He was single, so not tied to an uncomfortable situation. He had a good job and got along with his colleagues.)
4. foul play (seems most likely to me.)


Thoughts and questions:

Did Del have a change in plans? Did he drive his vehicle up to Quinault Lake area or did an incident happen elsewhere and his truck was dumped there?
If someone car-jacked him and dumped his truck there, how did they get away from the area? On his bike? Or was there more than one person involved?

If it was foul play, what would the motive be? His bike was an inexpensive one. Was it jealousy (as possibly implied by the poster whose mother dated Del)? Was it a crazed killer?

If Del did park the truck there, what was the attraction to the area? If Del decided to try out his new bike, why did he park in that spot? There don't seem to be any mountain biking trails in that immediate area. Had he been known to go to that area in the past?

Was there any subsequent activity in his banking accounts after filling up with gas? Did he have other purchases/stops on March 4?

Were his wallet and cell phone found in the truck?
Why didn't he take his GPS with him? Was it found in his truck?
Why hasn't his bike been found?


What happened to Del?
 
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Source on FBI clearing Keyes?

According to TCBS podcast s6e1 from two weeks ago, they have NOT ruled him out. They have decreased the likelihood of his involvement (as until relatively recently they thought it was likely Keyes was involved) due to a very tight but not impossible timeline.

Has something come out since then that I missed?

(Side note, the brief part of that episode discussing Del Sample is extremely interesting. It would seem that at this point the FBI finds his case to be profoundly strange, whether Keyes was involved or not, and really aren’t sure what to make of it. Unfortunately details on exactly why that is are limited to the public).
 
dub said:
Source on FBI clearing Keyes?

According to TCBS podcast s6e1 from two weeks ago, they have NOT ruled him out. They have decreased the likelihood of his involvement (as until relatively recently they thought it was likely Keyes was involved) due to a very tight but not impossible timeline.

Has something come out since then that I missed?

(Side note, the brief part of that episode discussing Del Sample is extremely interesting. It would seem that at this point the FBI finds his case to be profoundly strange, whether Keyes was involved or not, and really aren’t sure what to make of it. Unfortunately details on exactly why that is are limited to the public).
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll have to check out that podcast.

My comment about being cleared was based on this article from back in 2014, as I posted a few years back, but I'm including the updated link to the article here:
FBI: No link between missing man, serial killer Keyes | Peninsula Daily News

Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Detective Dan Riordan, who has investigated Sample’s disappearance, said Friday this is the second time authorities have looked into possible connections between Sample’s disappearance and Keyes.


“It was cleared, initially,” Riordan said. “The Seattle [FBI] office wanted to make sure they ran everything down,” he said.

“They believe they’ve got this end tied up. They’re saying he couldn’t have done it.

“Nothing is ever 100 percent, but we definitely believe it’s close to 99.9 percent.”
Click to expand...

Of course they may have re-thought their position since. It just seems to fit the IK victim profile though, doesn't it? I'm off to look for more recent info.
 
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Semi-Immediate Relative here!
Thanks you all for the boosting and posting, It is REALLY helping me map out what happened to Del. (I hear stories from my dad, as I never met him.)
Can you guys send links w=of where you got your information so I can compile an info sheet of links and info?
Also working on a timeline, and other similar stuff. ANY help is appreciated!
 
I think about Delmar Sample often. I came to know of Del's story a couple years ago from Josh Hallmark's "True Crime Bullsh**" Podcast. My heart goes out to his family and friends, it must be so hard to not know what happened to a loved one. I truly hope one day we will get answers and some sort of resolution as to what happened to Delmar. But just know that many people around the world are thinking of him and he will not be forgotten.~~~
 
Hey guys! I have the Lewis County Sheriff Office's Incident Report (Case files). Some quick things I'm going to put if you haven't known or I must have glossed over in your posts:

The bike he bought was a mountain bike that had a deal, making it a lot cheaper. Del couldn't pass up on it!

He put his cat down around 9:45 March 4, 2005 (last sighting day) a couple hours before he was last seen at the gas station. There IS footage, but only of him thinking about entering (he didn't) and not of his truck or anyone with him.

He had a few people working on a nice sports car (He was a car guy!) that was to be delivered March 8th, and he was really excited for it. Doesn't make sense to run off IMO.

His cousin Rob has guardianship of his estate.

He was issued Presumptive Death Certificate by the Lewis County Coroner's Office.

For a hot sec, some counties investigated John Wayne Thomson for Del's case, but it isn't profound or anything. I don't think Thomson did it.

DNA was collected from his parents.

You guys can call Lewis County for the records (in email or paper copy). You will have to give email, address, phone number, but can give a fake name.
 
LinnyPoo said:
Hey guys! I have the Lewis County Sheriff Office's Incident Report (Case files). Some quick things I'm going to put if you haven't known or I must have glossed over in your posts:

The bike he bought was a mountain bike that had a deal, making it a lot cheaper. Del couldn't pass up on it!

He put his cat down around 9:45 March 4, 2005 (last sighting day) a couple hours before he was last seen at the gas station. There IS footage, but only of him thinking about entering (he didn't) and not of his truck or anyone with him.

He had a few people working on a nice sports car (He was a car guy!) that was to be delivered March 8th, and he was really excited for it. Doesn't make sense to run off IMO.

His cousin Rob has guardianship of his estate.

He was issued Presumptive Death Certificate by the Lewis County Coroner's Office.

For a hot sec, some counties investigated John Wayne Thomson for Del's case, but it isn't profound or anything. I don't think Thomson did it.

DNA was collected from his parents.

You guys can call Lewis County for the records (in email or paper copy). You will have to give email, address, phone number, but can give a fake name.
Click to expand...
Poor Del. Is it possible then that he was depressed about his cat? As a single person I'm sure that could be tough. Perhaps that drove his desire to go and explore nature and how he ended up in the Lake Quinault area?
 
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