Search For Murder Victim’s Body Fails Despite Tip From His Killer

A search for the body of a Seattle shipwright who vanished 12 years ago has resumed without success following a tip from the man convicted of killing him.

Snohomish county sheriff’s deputies and volunteers spent five hours Saturday looking for the body of Kelly Ray Huff, 25 when he was last seen on June 25, 1985.

Sheriff’s deputies did not resume digging Sunday. It hasn’t been decided when the search will pick up again, said Jan Jorgensen, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

“This is not a fresh homicide, so we have plenty of time,” Jorgensen said. “It’s a follow-up search, it’s an evidence search and we will more likely resume search at a later date.”

Digging began after Guy William Rowan, 35, who served more than 10 years in prison for a second-degree murder conviction in Huff’s death, told Seattle police the body was buried on a hillside just outside this town.

A murder weapon never was found, and a clear motive was never established in Rowan’s trial. The key witness was Huff’s daughter, Kara, 5 at the time, who said she last saw her father go into the basement of his home with Rowan, adding that Rowan had a gun in his hand that day. Police said bloodstains were found in the basement.