Found Deceased WA - Cheryl DeBoer, 54, Mountlake Terrace, 8 February 2016 #6

[Dushi]

So, would you say the razor blade was in some kind of holder or something?
I can see a
person using a covered blade for something and putting it in their pocket and forgetting it

It has not been mentioned AFAIK, if the blade was just a blade or a blade covered by something

 

[DatelineFan]

I'm still catching up, but wanted to share some thoughts. I think this was a carefully planned homicide by someone who really wanted to make Cheryl suffer. It breaks my heart to think about this, but it's what I believe. I think this evil person possibly had her at gunpoint or knife or something. This is why they haven't found signs of a struggle, such as broken glasses, ripped clothing, etc. I don't know who or why.

In the case of a heinous murder (or if this was a bizarre suicide), there was surely some significant conflict in Cheryl's life that we aren't privy to. There has to be something!

 

[Dushi]

I'm still catching up, but wanted to share some thoughts. I think this was a carefully planned homicide by someone who really wanted to make Cheryl suffer. It breaks my heart to think about this, but it's what I believe. I think this evil person possibly had her at gunpoint or knife or something. This is why they haven't found signs of a struggle, such as broken glasses, ripped clothing, etc. I don't know who or why.

In the case of a heinous murder (or if this was a bizarre suicide), there was surely some significant conflict in Cheryl's life that we aren't privy to. There has to be something!

YES! either way, there has to be IMO

 

[Lilibet]

I would imagine most of you all have coats with hoods, right?

I find the fact that umbrellas are "shunned" amusing .

It is funny that umbrellas are "shunned" but they are a hassle, so I can see why locals don't bother. Rain often comes with wind, which makes umbrellas useless. I'd prefer a hood, except I don't like that it blocks my peripheral vision, and it's hard to keep it on in wind without holding it with one hand. I used a broad brimmed rain hat that tied on when I lived in a rainy area years ago. I'm glad I now live in a drier area and can choose to stay home if it's pouring.

 

[Oregonmama]

I would imagine most of you all have coats with hoods, right?

I find the fact that umbrellas are "shunned" amusing .

Hoods, but I don't use them

 

[Treelights]

I'm still catching up, but wanted to share some thoughts. I think this was a carefully planned homicide by someone who really wanted to make Cheryl suffer. It breaks my heart to think about this, but it's what I believe. I think this evil person possibly had her at gunpoint or knife or something. This is why they haven't found signs of a struggle, such as broken glasses, ripped clothing, etc. I don't know who or why.

In the case of a heinous murder (or if this was a bizarre suicide), there was surely some significant conflict in Cheryl's life that we aren't privy to. There has to be something!

I wonder if Cheryl was kept elsewhere and then deposited in the culvert area not too long before she was found.

IMOO.

 

[dizzychick]

Brand-new armchair detective here with 20+ years of experience watching Law & Order and a fascination with reading true crime books in bursts, and then nothing for months or years. I apologize for bringing up things possibly already answered, as I don’t have time to read every post. Some of my questions are not meant to point fingers at anyone, so if any of my questions seem pointed, it’s not intentional. These are just questions I ask keeping an open mind and hoping to get concrete answers to circumstances surrounding this woman’s death. I shop frequently in the general region of these happenings so have a personal safety interest, as well. HOME SURVEILLANCE: Was the home surveillance system in place for a long while, or only recently installed? Could the setup be manipulated so it could be a day off, or some such? Were several days’ worth of comings and goings watched? Was CD wearing the same clothing leaving the home 2/8 as the day found? RE STEELMAN MAP: Very disturbing to me that her car was parked so far away from where she was found. RE FINGER CUTS: Were these consistent with a razor? We know she had self-inflicted cuts, but were they definitely from the razor? Was in a razor blade, or like a hand-held disposable from a women’s package? RE BLOOD ON FLOOR OF CAR: I read where this accumulation was more significant. Was this blood determined to be old? Does forensics have the ability to test age of found blood? Was CD car a one-owner, purchased used? Could the blood be from an event totally unrelated to CD? MISSING CELLPHONE & ID: She seems like a well-educated, smart lady. If she did this to herself and didn’t want to be found or identified straight away, seems she would have gone far out of the area to do this. If she did this she did it within a short span of her home and car. Why bother disposing of her own cellphone and ID? Makes no sense to me. PLASTIC BAG: Does placing a thin plastic bag over one’s head do the trick quickly? Seems our natural reflexes would take over and our hands would rip off the bag once the air supply is gone. FAMILY: Do the husband and son have a good relationship? Do the husband and CD’s mom have a good relationship? FRIENDS: Did she have a “best friend” or acquaintances only? A sister? A lover? A confidante? METRO BUS: Her Metro pass wasn’t used, but she could have used cash. Who does that? Do the buses have dash cams, and were these thoroughly checked out for 2/8/16? WORK: Was everything okay at work? Professionally? Personal relationships with co-workers? HOME: How was her relationship with her husband? -----My gut instinct tells me that this is not suicide. It seems like too much work and to many questions for it to be suicide. ASPHYXIATION & FRESH WATER DROWNING: To be determined as the cause of death, do they need to act in tandem, or would they have to be done in tandem? Could the asphyxiation happen in one place, then the body then placed in the fresh water? FOLDED GLASSES: This is odd. As a glasses wearer, the first thing that goes flying when roughhousing with a dog or child can be the glasses. Seems these would have either been a plant, or CD herself (so I keep an open mind about suicide). DRUGS IN SYSTEM: This was definitely ruled out, right? BACK TO RAZOR: Would someone contemplating suicide make first attempts on fingertips or wrists? Would a person with personal intent chicken out, look around car for a bag to place over their head, stuff in a pocket, trek to the culvert area, place bag AND lay face down into winter cold water? I don’t think so.

Welcome fellow detective, I have always thought from day one that this was a murder possibly done for the huge insurance policy you can buy as an employee benefit. I have not heard if she did buy up her policy but I do know it is cheap compared to after market life insurance. I hate to suggest this and I dont want to point fingers or suggest who might be responsible. I recently read an article where some man on Camano Island had an intruder burst into his house and held him at gunpoint yelling at him that he didnt deserve the job he just got. I dont know if they caught the guy but apparently the culprit knew this man had just gotten a new job. With that in mind I guess she could have had somone angry with her position at work and resented her for whatever reason. Who knows, but I do think this was a murder and a very well planned one at that. I hope and pray the Seattle cops do not take the easy road and call this suicide or undetermined...

 

[Dushi]

Bottom line is it could be labeled undetermined.
From what they are telling us so far, there is very little evidence to clarify manner of death
It is always possible that the bulk of information is being held back.
From almost the beginning LE has said they are looking at this from more than one angle
Nothing is crystal clear IMO

 

[Lilibet]

I'm still catching up, but wanted to share some thoughts. I think this was a carefully planned homicide by someone who really wanted to make Cheryl suffer. It breaks my heart to think about this, but it's what I believe. I think this evil person possibly had her at gunpoint or knife or something. This is why they haven't found signs of a struggle, such as broken glasses, ripped clothing, etc. I don't know who or why.

In the case of a heinous murder (or if this was a bizarre suicide), there was surely some significant conflict in Cheryl's life that we aren't privy to. There has to be something!

BBM

I hate to think of Cheryl suffering, but I'm leaning toward a carefully planned homicide only because the method of suicide is so bizarre IMO. I do think it would be possible to commit a murder without a sign of a struggle.

Rather than a "significant conflict in Cheryl's life," "something," could it have been someone with well hidden psychopathy who was known to her and trusted? Someone who wanted to kill and Cheryl was just an easy, trusting target? It's possible that her kind, helpful nature was her downfall.

JMO

 

[margarita25]

The cat she got from me didn't like the food I sent apparently. It's common for cats not to eat the first 24 hours in a new home and in fat kitties this can cause hepatic lipidosis which we talked about the night she took him home. Many commercial raw pet foods are available at local stores. I have a mix of chicken turkey beef and pork made in an 80/10/10 ratio which is "species appropriate diet". I prefer to use the human grade organic grass fed food from the butcher shop. Many of us do that. The butcher stuff does leak easily as I showed the police when they were here.
The cat also had a few small matts on his back and a razor blade is a gentle and easy way to get them out. Scissors are more dangerous as you can cut the cat.
I have a theory based on some things I've read here but she did not kill herself. That I know. I don't care what "proof" they have, I will never believe it. She contacted me almost weekly about getting that cat. She would not get him and then kill herself.

Being that you had been feeding the cat the raw meat from the butcher, do you know if Cheryl continued with this same diet for the cat, also getting the raw meat from the butcher?

 

[Treelights]

Cheryl's phone was powered down shortly after her last text.

Cheryl mentioned to the car pooler to go on without her.

The car pooler asked how long it would take to get the badge, and Cheryl answered ten minutes.

" “Just go without me,” the text said. “I’ll probably ride home with you.” "

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160216/NEWS01/160219330

Cheryl mentioned that she Probably would ride home with car pooler. Probably is an uncertainty, imoo, as probably is not 100 percent.
Why wouldn't Cheryl just say that Cheryl Will ride home with the car pooler? Instead it is not an absolute. Why even say that she will ride home with the car pooler at all, if Cheryl knew that Cheryl would be back in ten minutes and catch a ride with the car pooler?
The sequence of the texts could hold that answer, though, BUT Cheryl's phone was powered down after the last text? Why?

Either Cheryl powered down that phone herself, or some one else did. How could someone else do it in that short time span of car being seen on video at 7am and last text at 7:02am, and With her car doors locked and secured?

IMOO.

 

[Treelights]

It's so odd that a butcher shop isn't that far away from where she parked her car. And blood was found in the car.
And that she got a cat, who eats a raw diet.
Who else did Cheryl talk to about her new cat and diet for the cat?

Could a clue be in the new cat? ( I am not referring to the person she got the cat from.)

IMOO.

 

[Master Gee]

Cheryl's phone was powered down shortly after her last text.

Cheryl mentioned to the car pooler to go on without her.

The car pooler asked how long it would take to get the badge, and Cheryl answered ten minutes.

" “Just go without me,” the text said. “I’ll probably ride home with you.” "

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160216/NEWS01/160219330

Cheryl mentioned that she Probably would ride home with car pooler. Probably is an uncertainty, imoo, as probably is not 100 percent.
Why wouldn't Cheryl just say that Cheryl Will ride home with the car pooler? Instead it is not an absolute. Why even say that she will ride home with the car pooler at all, if Cheryl knew that Cheryl would be back in ten minutes and catch a ride with the car pooler?
The sequence of the texts could hold that answer, though, BUT Cheryl's phone was powered down after the last text? Why?

Either Cheryl powered down that phone herself, or some one else did. How could someone else do it in that short time span of car being seen on video at 7am and last text at 7:02am, and With her car doors locked and secured?

IMOO.

The locked doors of her car seems explainable to me that perhaps she got out of the car, locked the doors THEN realized the badge was missing. Texting in the street next to the car when/if she was abducted. Hadn't unlocked the car yet to return home?

 

[margarita25]

If the bag was from a restaurant she frequented, maybe it was already in the car, but then that doesn't explain the tying...

Might Cheryl have stopped for breakfast that morning at that restaurant?

Sorry if already asked /discussed.

What it seems like to me at this time is someone might have been/gotten in the backseat, put the bag over her head and strangled her to unconsciousness. Or abducTed her and put her in another vehicle where she was aphyxiated with the bag. Then threw her in the culvert (maybe thinking she was dead), where she continued to drown.

Maybe the perp initially had the razor blade, which was what he used to threaten her with. (Not sure why it was in her pocket, I don't think anyone was trying to stage a suicide).

Re: the animal blood, my guess at this time is that this will be tied to her cat (s), or perhaps the food the cats were eating.

Again, this is all my guess at this time, which seems more likely to me than suicide under those circumstances. Please feel free to poke holes in this theory!

Everything is jmo. I appreciate everyone's thoughts here.

Eta: I lean towards the idea that the cuts are defensive wounds, or sustained during a struggle, but I am not privy to the information LE has as far as how they came to the conclusion that the cuts were self inflicted.

 

[DatelineFan]

BBM

I hate to think of Cheryl suffering, but I'm leaning toward a carefully planned homicide only because the method of suicide is so bizarre IMO. I do think it would be possible to commit a murder without a sign of a struggle.

Rather than a "significant conflict in Cheryl's life," "something," could it have been someone with well hidden psychopathy who was known to her and trusted? Someone who wanted to kill and Cheryl was just an easy, trusting target? It's possible that her kind, helpful nature was her downfall.

JMO

I agree with you on all of this. It's certainly possible that someone known to her had a hidden pathology, and targeted her kindness.

I also think it's important to make it clear that my post wasn't about her husband. I know you didn't mention it, I just wanted to clarify that for everyone.

I do think there's a missing piece. There's something significant that we don't know about. I really hope LE is aware of it. If they aren't, I hope they find it.

I can't get on board with suicide in this specific circumstance. I would be able to accept that Cheryl committed suicide under different circumstances. In this case it's the manner of suicide I can't wrap my head around, it's not just Cheryl. I would have difficulty believing anyone committed suicide this way with no drugs.

 

[Treelights]

In the photo of Cheryl's car, there is an animal carrier. Was that Cheryl's animal carrier, meaning was it found in the back seat of her car and taken out to be processed by LE?

IMOO.

 

[PLT]

The cat she got from me didn't like the food I sent apparently. It's common for cats not to eat the first 24 hours in a new home and in fat kitties this can cause hepatic lipidosis which we talked about the night she took him home. Many commercial raw pet foods are available at local stores. I have a mix of chicken turkey beef and pork made in an 80/10/10 ratio which is "species appropriate diet". I prefer to use the human grade organic grass fed food from the butcher shop. Many of us do that. The butcher stuff does leak easily as I showed the police when they were here.
The cat also had a few small matts on his back and a razor blade is a gentle and easy way to get them out. Scissors are more dangerous as you can cut the cat.
I have a theory based on some things I've read here but she did not kill herself. That I know. I don't care what "proof" they have, I will never believe it. She contacted me almost weekly about getting that cat. She would not get him and then kill herself.

Thank you for shedding some light. Like others have suggested, I am wondering if the food would test as "blood" if in fact that's what the results showed. I do know the person testing blood is on vacation or away - until the end of March as stated by the recent article so maybe the tests are inconclusive right now. The razor blade - did Cheryl use one to your knowledge to get matted hair out of the cats? I imagine she could have nicked her finger as well but how it got into the car is a bit challenging. I can't imagine she'd perform that task in a car especially with cats are are fearful. If she happened to have a razor blade in her car, perhaps if someone jumped in the back or side she grabbed it. So many questions....

 

[DatelineFan]

Cheryl's phone was powered down shortly after her last text.

Cheryl mentioned to the car pooler to go on without her.

The car pooler asked how long it would take to get the badge, and Cheryl answered ten minutes.

" “Just go without me,” the text said. “I’ll probably ride home with you.” "

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160216/NEWS01/160219330

Cheryl mentioned that she Probably would ride home with car pooler. Probably is an uncertainty, imoo, as probably is not 100 percent.
Why wouldn't Cheryl just say that Cheryl Will ride home with the car pooler? Instead it is not an absolute. Why even say that she will ride home with the car pooler at all, if Cheryl knew that Cheryl would be back in ten minutes and catch a ride with the car pooler?
The sequence of the texts could hold that answer, though, BUT Cheryl's phone was powered down after the last text? Why?

Either Cheryl powered down that phone herself, or some one else did. How could someone else do it in that short time span of car being seen on video at 7am and last text at 7:02am, and With her car doors locked and secured?

IMOO.

I think she just didn't know when she would finish her work. Times can vary, generally, depending on the day. My guess is they don't always finish their work at the same time.

 

[brandi]

Cheryl's phone was powered down shortly after her last text.

Cheryl mentioned to the car pooler to go on without her.

The car pooler asked how long it would take to get the badge, and Cheryl answered ten minutes.

" “Just go without me,” the text said. “I’ll probably ride home with you.” "

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160216/NEWS01/160219330

Cheryl mentioned that she Probably would ride home with car pooler. Probably is an uncertainty, imoo, as probably is not 100 percent.
Why wouldn't Cheryl just say that Cheryl Will ride home with the car pooler? Instead it is not an absolute. Why even say that she will ride home with the car pooler at all, if Cheryl knew that Cheryl would be back in ten minutes and catch a ride with the car pooler?
The sequence of the texts could hold that answer, though, BUT Cheryl's phone was powered down after the last text? Why?

Either Cheryl powered down that phone herself, or some one else did. How could someone else do it in that short time span of car being seen on video at 7am and last text at 7:02am, and With her car doors locked and secured?

IMOO.

BBM--they found her car locked and secured. MO does not mean that she sat there locked in secure. Stryker said she was not one to lock her doors...

 

[TeaTime]

Plus she just got a new kitty!

I am wondering if she simply had a razor in her pocket because she had said to family the ParknRide area was a bit shady (something like that, probably not those exact words) and if she was use to walking on the trail why wouldn't she have it? IMO

Mrs. DeBoer was a brilliant woman and an avid hunter, she would know that a razor blade is useless for self-defense because it requires you to be in reach of your attacker and a tiny woman has shorter arms than a man. She would be defenseless even with a razor blade in each hand. Nope, not a self-defense weapon. More like planted item.