Teen Runaway Found Dead In Everett

A 15-year-old Snohomish boy with a history of running away was found dead on a friend’s kitchen floor.

An autopsy was performed Monday on the body of Scott Beeler, but Snohomish County medical investigators said they would wait for the results of toxicology and lab tests before determining the cause of death.

Scott told his parents, Daniel and Janet Beeler, he was spending Friday night at a relative’s home, but the relative found a note from the boy indicating he was leaving to see a friend, Everett police spokesman Elliott Woodall said.

The 19-year-old friend, who told police he was housesitting the home, another 15-year-old boy and two girls, aged 14 and 12, spent Friday night and Saturday morning in the house, Woodall said.

The 12-year-old girl said she heard glass break during the night but ignored it, Woodall said. She was awakened Saturday morning by a telephone call from Daniel Beeler, asking if his son was there.

“She told him that she hadn’t seen him and that he wasn’t there,” Woodall said. “After the telephone conversation, she went into the kitchen and discovered the body. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the body.”

A small glass window in a back door of the house leading to the kitchen had been broken and it appeared Beeler could have reached through the window to release a deadbolt lock and get inside, Woodall said.

Daniel Beeler said his son began having problems at school and home a year ago. Scott was dismissed from two high schools and had run away 10 times in the past year, said Beeler.

“He was running from any form of structure in his life and he tried every avenue of escape from structure - and now it cost him his life,” Beeler said.