Medical examiner says suicide likely in death of woman found in north Whatcom County pond
The Whatcom County Medical Examiner says a 29-year-old Ellensburg woman, whose body was found Wednesday, March 17, in a pond near the U.S.-Canadian border, died by drowning.
A preliminary investigation suggests the manner of death was suicide, but the final determination remains pending until the ongoing investigation is concluded, Whatcom County Medical Examiner Dr. Gary Goldfogel said in an email to The Bellingham Herald on Friday, March 19.
There were no obvious signs of trauma or foul play at the scene, according to a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office news release Thursday, March 18. The woman’s identity was not released.
Deputies responded at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, to the 3000 block of H Street east of Blaine for the report of the missing woman, according to the release. The woman had been reported missing from her parent’s home in Blaine after she had shown up unexpectedly the night before.
Family members were unable to locate her Tuesday morning and reported her missing.
According to an earlier Herald story, a preliminary search by deputies, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Search and Rescue K-9 and a drone was unsuccessful Tuesday, according to the release, and no evidence of an assault or abduction was found at the time.
On Wednesday morning, Whatcom County Search and Rescue returned and began a land search, according to the release. They found several of the woman’s clothing items near a pond.
The sheriff’s office, Border Patrol and other search and rescue volunteers responded to the pond area, the release states, and a drone located her body in the pond. She was recovered by search and rescue personnel.
The woman’s body was turned over to the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office.
