Body found in Crescent Bar
CRESCENT BAR — An Orondo teenager reported missing was believed to be found dead in Crescent Bar.
Authorities believe the body is Mackenzie Nicole Cowell, 17. An autopsy at Central Washington Hospital will confirm the identity.
Investigators are treating the death as a homicide.
The body was found by people walking in the resort area near the Columbia River in Crescent Bar Saturday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office reported.
“It appears the body was put there by someone,” the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reported. “The body was found with her feet in the water and fully clothed.”
Shortly after she was located, the sheriff’s office mobilized their crime scene team and set up a ?command post.
“The initial crime scene examined was large and included hundreds of yards of shoreline and wooded area,” Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal explained. “An 1,800-square-foot vacant house was also searched for any evidence which may help determine the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.”
The Wenatchee High School student was last seen leaving the Wenatchee Academy of Hair Design. Later that night, her locked vehicle was found abandoned in a rural area of Chelan County known as Pitcher Canyon, about 40 miles from her home in Orondo. Her purse and some clothes were found in the car, but her debit card was missing. A set of footprints was found outside the car.
The homicide is being investigated by Douglas, Chelan and Grant County sheriff’s offices, Wenatchee Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Missing and Abducted Children’s Task Force. The agencies and numerous volunteers assisted in examining the crime scene and continue to re-examine the area for evidence.
No suspects were named in the homicide investigation.
When Cowell was reported missing, records from social networking sites MySpace and Facebook and cellphone company Verizon were faxed warrants to obtain information that could lead to the circumstances surrounding her death.
Last week a candle light vigil was held in Wenatchee. People gathered holding candles lighting a path in hope of Cowell’s safe return home.
“The case is complicated because of the scope of various pieces of the picture,” stated Gjesdal. “If a circumstance arises which requires quick action, we will move accordingly. Otherwise, we will be moving at a measured and deliberate pace which may seem slow to the citizens who are understandably anxious about this incident. This is a case where a person or person(s) committed a heinous crime against an innocent victim. At this time there is no evidence this is part of a wider criminal endeavor. We ask our citizens to remain calm and vigilant.”
Anyone with information about the homicide can contact the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office at 509-884-0941.