Public’s help sought in Deer Park homicide investigation

Detectives are asking anyone who had contact with Deer Park homicide victim Chanin Starbuck in the last 30 days to contact them. Starbuck, 42, was found dead in her home at 509 N. Reiper St. Saturday about 8:30 a.m. after family members who hadn’t heard from her in several days requested deputies check on her. An autopsy concluded she died of strangulation. Detectives today seized Starbuck’s cellphone and computers, as well as Internet routing data, as they try to recreate her last days. Starbuck and her ex-husband, Clay Starbuck, have five children. Family from out of town contacted police on Friday to request a welfare check on Starbuck, but deputies responded to the home and found no signs of a forced entry or other suspicious circumstances. They left feeling they had no justification to enter the home without a warrant. They returned the next day after a friend said he hadn’t heard from her since Wednesday and that it was “very out of character for her,” documents say. Deputies found Starbuck dead on a bed in the master bedroom. Clay Starbuck told deputies Friday that his ex-wife sent him a text message on Thursday about 3:30 p.m. asking him to pick up their children from school. Starbuck told deputies “that Chanin had been online dating and been on numerous dates,” according to the search warrant for the computers, filed today in Spokane County Superior Court. No arrests have been made, and no suspects have been identified. Anyone who’s had contact with Chanin Starbuck in the last month or has information on the homicide is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.