In brief: Skeleton discovered in shallow grave

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible homicide after the discovery of a skeleton in a shallow grave.

An orchard worker discovered a skull just before 7 a.m. at Saddle Mountain Orchard, 2560 W. Highway 24, south of Othello. Investigators from the Washington State Patrol’s crime laboratory later uncovered the rest of the skeleton.

The skeletal remains will be examined today by a forensic anthropologist to determine age, sex and ethnicity – and perhaps the cause of death and length of time in the ground, said Adams County Sheriff Doug Barger.

– Amy Cannata

Spokane County

Mother of five held in drug, forgery case

A mother of five was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly cashing counterfeit checks in the names of at least three businesses and three individuals.

Kristin Alise Langley, 39, faces 12 charges, including forgery, identity theft, theft and possession of controlled substances. The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office said detectives who raided her Spokane Valley home found methamphetamine.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said counterfeiting checks is “the next big thing,” and that it’s often associated with meth or cocaine use.

“That’s why we tell people not to leave their checkbooks in cars,” he said.

Reagan did not name the victims, and he did not know how much money Langley is accused of stealing.

The Sheriff’s Office was tipped off by a teller at Washington Trust Bank on North Division Street. Bank representatives would not comment.

– Nick Eaton

Two men arrested at illegal dump site

Two men were arrested Monday morning at a popular illegal dumping site near Valleyford.

Robert Duane Clausen, 51, and Jamie Lee Richard, 28, were arrested on outstanding warrants after a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy checked to see if they were illegally dumping garbage. They said they were trying use a pickup to pull an abandoned vehicle out of the woods to sell, spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said Tuesday.

“That was their story,” Reagan said. “I don’t think that the deputy indicated there was a chain or ropes.”

The deputy also found small amounts of methamphetamine on Clausen and in the borrowed pickup, Reagan said.

Frequent complaints come from the area about illegal dumping. Reagan said homeowners often hire people to take loads of trash to the incinerator, only to have it dumped in the woods instead.

Then, if mail is in the garbage, it’s easy for someone to sift through the trash and steal a person’s identity, he said.

– Nick Eaton