Found Deceased WA - Cheryl DeBoer, 54, Mountlake Terrace, 8 February 2016 #1

[katydid23]

I didn't see the rumor, but I would be very surprised if LE wasn't questioning everyone close to her. According to my "research," ahem, several hundred episodes of forensic files, spouses are always questioned so they can be ruled out and if not always, at least very frequently, take poly's so they can be cleared and the investigation can move on.

You hear again again and again how difficult it is for spouses to be questioned about the nuances of their relationship, etc., at such a time.

But that's how investigators work, from the inside out--who saw the victim last, who could personally benefit from that person being gone in terms of freedom, pursuit of other romance or money. I think it would be unusual if they approached this case differently. It's protocol. I wouldn't expect for LE to be detailing those interviews at this point. Usually you just hear when they are cleared.


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Exactly. They are even going to gently 'question' the grown son. Maybe he had an inheritance coming and he was getting impatient. And they will speak to co-workers to see if she had a love interest or an enemy there. This will take awhile.

 

[La Louve]

I think that literally is a creek, diverted into a culvert to prevent flooding on DAYS LIKE TODAY. Ugh, we have had so much rain lately. Complicates the crime scene, I'm sure.

There was one photo posted a few pages back where it looks like there is a catchment basin surrounded by concrete outside the culvert itself, to drop the level of the culvert low enough to run beneath the road. These newer types of WA DOT approved culverts are more sophisticated and allow for the surrounding terrain to drain more effectively.

It caught my eye because it seemed like it would require more of a drop to get down to the culvert itself.

 

[steelman]

The details of this disappearance have gotten completely convoluted and distorted due to both the main stream media and the police withholding vital information. It's getting harder and harder to sort out fact from fiction in almost any of these news reports.

Something as simple as the place she was last seen and who last saw her shouldn't be some sort of complicated thing to accurately report on.

Even the family's Facebook page is full of contradictions and different versions of events.............it's all bad. No wonder people are arguing out different theories. What's sticking in peoples minds is what they read in a news report somewhere, which can be completely different than what somebody else read in a news report somewhere else.

 

[WhisperWorm]

My first time posting, but have been lurking forever. I also live in the area.

I wanted to say that there are flood warnings all over, and have been for a while now. We have gotten a lot of rain in the past few weeks, so that culvert is going to have quickly moving water inside of it. The water was flowing towards the camera, meaning that it is coming from the direction of the very heavily brush area across Cedar Way.

I've wondered over the past day or two why Commander Pickard had initially included thanking the United States Marshals, but in the past few updates he hasn't mentioned them. Does anyone know why the Marshals would have been involved at all? I am sorry I can't link the video as it was a raw feed and KOMO replaced it with an updated edited version.

I also wanted to say that, regarding her security badge, almost everyone (myself included) who has ever commuted to Seattle has a backpack or messenger bag because it can be a really long haul, especially if there's an accident on I-5, which there often is, or if they do end up taking the bus they like to take a book out of their bag, or tablet, and read; and this is usually where everyone I know stuff their lanyards into their work bag (often their ORCA card is on the same lanyard.) Nobody talks to each other on any of the buses I've ever ridden, and nobody that I know of commutes without coffee. My point is that these are some of the items that might be missing - her regular travel-to-work items. Her regular carpool friends would know what she took with her every day since they'd been commuting for years. It is also not unrealistic that she sometimes took the bus rather than carpool because, just for instance, if anyone gets a late start there's always another bus going into the city every 15 minutes.

I am curious if anyone has seen a personal Facebook page belonging to CD. Her son had recently been married, and her cousin and other family members have Facebook, and as this was an incredibly tech-savvy woman she would most likely have had one herself - especially to keep in touch with her son on the other side of the state. I know that when a page on Facebook is deactivated that person's "Likes" will no longer show on pictures, and their posts won't be visible even on another person's wall (such as her son's) - so I wonder if hers was deactivated quickly by LE. If there was a FB page of her it might show last time of use.

I also want to expand on some thoughts about where her car was found. Many have said it's odd to have parked in the overflow area when the Transit Center had plenty of space, but the way I park when commuting is similar because if you're not VERY fast, and parked strategically in the transit centers, then there's a huge and time-consuming bottleneck to simply get out of your parking space, let alone the entire lot - especially with as much traffic that is moving outside of that particular Transit Center, as it's right off of I-5's ramps. This region is known for INSANE levels of traffic during commuter hours. My point is that it would very likely be MUCH faster to get off the bus or out of a friend's car a the transit center and walk through the Park woods to get to that area where her car was found, especially since from where it was parked she could just drive some side streets and get home in 2 or 3 minutes rather than battle the traffic rushing into the neighborhood from the freeway. I hope that makes sense. It's unreal the lengths people will go to in order to shave a few minutes off of their commute, and not at all unusual.

Well, thanks for listening to my opinions and ideas. I feel so bad for Cheryl and her family, especially her son. Thanks.

 

[katydid23]

Trying to think outside the box I'm currently in...

But if she didn't send the text message, I am unable to make myself believe that a stranger sent it. I just don't know why they would bother.

It is possible that she sent the message herself and then was carjacked/kidnapped before she arrived home to get her badge.
But trying to come up with a logical scenario for how that unfolded still escapes me. I guess if she was out of her car or had the doors unlocked and she was near the wooded area then it could happen. But I wonder what they were going to steal other than her purse and cell? They left the car there. I don't think she was sexually assaulted. So what was the purpose for killing her? To get her purse and cell phone? That part makes no sense to me.

If it was someone else that sent the text, then it had to be someone close to her. Like a family member, co-worker, lover, jilted ex, husbands girlfriend, etc...

 

[Treelights]

Welcome WhisperWorm!!

Thank You for your post!

 

[Treelights]

It is possible that she sent the message herself and then was carjacked/kidnapped before she arrived home to get her badge.
But trying to come up with a logical scenario for how that unfolded still escapes me. I guess if she was out of her car or had the doors unlocked and she was near the wooded area then it could happen. But I wonder what they were going to steal other than her purse and cell? They left the car there. I don't think she was sexually assaulted. So what was the purpose for killing her? To get her purse and cell phone? That part makes no sense to me.

If it was someone else that sent the text, then it had to be someone close to her. Like a family member, co-worker, lover, jilted ex, husbands girlfriend, etc...

Right, and her cellphone and credit cards haven't been used...

 

[La Louve]

Good first post Whisper Worm and welcome to Websleuths!

You're so right about the transit center gridlock that can happen at certain times of day.

:welcome:

 

[Stripehaven]

WhisperWorm, that is a really great point about her possibly missing a backpack or similar, with work/commuting supplies. I used to commute by bus from Lynnwood and yeah, you need stuff to do. Had not thought about that.

I never found an individual Facebook page for Cheryl but her husband has one. Lots of photos of the two of them engaging in outdoor activities together. Not much in the way of posts.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I believe OntarioMom was referring to Gary Ridgway aka the Green River Killer, who was also active in the greater Seattle area.

Indeed I was. I never even realized the accidental connection.

 

[otto]

I'm trying to be careful and respectful and within TOS of course - but there is a much different dynamic between missing child and missing wife and in each type of case, investigations almost always start with those closest and work their way outward. At this time, according to LE, we don't even know who was really the last person to see Cheryl. So, I'm just tossing theories out there along with everyone else.

Victoria Stafford - same situation. For months, online sleuths assumed that her mother murdered her. My point is that without a viable suspect, the tendency seems to be to imply that someone in the family is responsible regardless of whether there is justification for the implication - nothing more than my opinion.

I can see at least two possibilities. One possibility is <modsnip> Another possibility is that she drove to the transit centre, realized that she forgot her pass, texted her friend, was accosted at 7:05AM and her car was commandeered, she was forced to drive to a remote location (perhaps near culvert), she was murdered, perp parked her car in the transit centre overflow area, and either before or after parking her car he put her body in the culvert. Either option is possible, but without more information, we don't know which possibility is more likely.

If she was last seen at the transit centre, I think it's very likely that she encountered a violent stranger.

 

[La Louve]

Exactly. They are even going to gently 'question' the grown son. Maybe he had an inheritance coming and he was getting impatient. And they will speak to co-workers to see if she had a love interest or an enemy there. This will take awhile.

Agreed. Especially if LE gets search warrants for computers, phones, email and social media accounts. Which I hope they do.

 

[Ontario Mom]

It is possible that she sent the message herself and then was carjacked/kidnapped before she arrived home to get her badge.
But trying to come up with a logical scenario for how that unfolded still escapes me. I guess if she was out of her car or had the doors unlocked and she was near the wooded area then it could happen. But I wonder what they were going to steal other than her purse and cell? They left the car there. I don't think she was sexually assaulted. So what was the purpose for killing her? To get her purse and cell phone? That part makes no sense to me.

If it was someone else that sent the text, then it had to be someone close to her. Like a family member, co-worker, lover, jilted ex, husbands girlfriend, etc...

Glad you posted it first In your run of the mill, awful, stranger attack, what are the motives? Theft, robbery, burglary, sexual assault, etc.

- Her credit cards have not been used
- there has been no activity on her phone
- her car was not stolen
- there's been no mention of sexual assault (which doesn't mean it didn't happen, just no mention of it yet)

So if you take all those things off the table, it's personal. Whoever killed her did so either by accident (and then they covered it up) or because they wanted her, personally, gone.

moo.

 

[Treelights]

Glad you posted it first In your run of the mill, awful, stranger attack, what are the motives? Theft, robbery, burglary, sexual assault, etc.

- Her credit cards have not been used
- there has been no activity on her phone
- her car was not stolen
- there's been no mention of sexual assault (which doesn't mean it didn't happen, just no mention of it yet)

So if you take all those things off the table, it's personal. Whoever killed her did so either by accident (and then they covered it up) or because they wanted her, personally, gone.

moo.

And I wonder if her cellphone was Not found with her.

Wouldn't a random killer just leave her cellphone with her body? The phone was turned off.

It sounds personal to me, as well.
IMOO.

 

[eucalyptuz]

Good points Whisperworm and great inaugural post!

I often park further away from entrances, car parks etc if it means an easy escape at the end of the day. I have a friend that also parks on the other side of a nature park from her bus stop to get in her daily 10,000 steps on her Fitbit.

With regards to Cheryl's FB, I have not found one exclusively hers, although her husband's says "M___'n' Cheryl" in the spot under the name so perhaps they co-authored or perhaps she was not interested in having a page herself.

 

[TeaTime]

This was planned. The culvert was previously selected, or mentally acknowledged, as a good place to dump a body.

Seriously, would you be able to get rid of a body and have it not found for days?

I have never driven by a spot and thought 'great place to dump a body', you?

So, the perp is someone who drove this particular culvert area ALOT.

There would be no other reason to remember it.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Victoria Stafford - same situation. For months, online sleuths assumed that her mother murdered her. My point is that without a viable suspect, the tendency seems to be to imply that someone in the family is responsible regardless of whether there is justification for the implication - nothing more than my opinion.

I can see at least two possibilities. One possibility is <modsnip> Another possibility is that she drove to the transit centre, realized that she forgot her pass, texted her friend, was accosted at 7:05AM and her car was commandeered, she was forced to drive to a remote location (perhaps near culvert), she was murdered, perp parked her car in the transit centre overflow area, and either before or after parking her car he put her body in the culvert. Either option is possible, but without more information, we don't know which possibility is more likely.

If she was last seen at the transit centre, I think it's very likely that she encountered a violent stranger.

I live just blocks from where Tori went missing on her way home from school, and never followed that here (for lots of reasons, but mostly didn't want to see non-locals saying stuff they knew nothing about and being so sure of it, the same way we all do in all the other cases - as ironic as that sounds). I know what people were saying offline though - and most were speculating it had some druggie connection. <modsnip> Vile beasts, both of them. May they rot.

I totally and 100% do see your point though. I think it's a natural reaction to immediately look at the closest people and ask "does the story hold water?" and when it doesn't, start seeing the red flags. But when it does, move along. I think for many in this case, the place where it gets messy is that now, after the fact, LE is not affirming or denying whether or not hubby was the last to see her, when earlier reports said he was. Just 1 little red flag there. If in fact he was, and they'd already cleared him as a POI they usually make a statement to that affect. So far, they have not done that. Of course that does NOT MEAN that he is a POI, it's just not consistent with what many of us are used to hearing from LE.

So far, I have not heard LE confirm that she WAS last seen at the transit center. It's possible I've missed something though.

 

[otto]

Hannah Graham's (Virginia) remains were very likely put into a creek, then there were high water levels, and some of her remains were found towards the bottom of a slope in the creek bed after the water levels subsided. Could Cheryl have been put in the creek, heavy rain caused her to move downstream, and she got caught on something at the entrance to the culvert?

 

[kammiemc]

This Seattle times article says she was found in grass:

"Around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, a group of volunteers found the body in a large, grassy area maintained by the city near 244th Street Southwest and Cedar Way, about a mile and a half southeast of where DeBoer’s vehicle had been located, Pickard said during a Sunday afternoon media briefing."

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/body-found-in-mountlake-terrace/

And Kiro7 Twitter has a good pic of the area. View attachment 89157

Hmmm. If that is true, it makes you think someone didn't go to great extents to hide her.

I have a question: I keep reading posts that refer to her husband saying she left at 7 AM. Was that something that was reported? It seems to conflict with her sending a text at 7 AM saying she forgot her badge at home.


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[silverkitty]

I believe OntarioMom was referring to Gary Ridgway aka the Green River Killer, who was also active in the greater Seattle area.

Respectfully, I believe otto was simply drawing a comparison to another case of a murder victim found in a culvert and was not confusing Jessica Ridgeway with serial killer Gary Ridgeway. JMO