Mystery Surrounds Disappearance

Sat., Feb. 28, 1998

Associated Press

An investigation into the disappearance of a state ferry worker has turned up no evidence that he accidentally fell overboard, authorities said Friday.

Investigators still don’t know what happened to Steven Lance Brown, a deckhand who vanished from the ferry Tacoma during a run across Puget Sound from Seattle to Bainbridge Island the night of Feb. 18.

Nothing has been ruled out, and the probe is continuing, according to a progress report released Friday by Washington State Ferries.

Acting Port Capt. Jim Malde, one of the three investigators, said three passengers heard a sequence of four yells of “help, help.” One person said she saw a small light in the water, resembling a flashlight, about 25 feet away from the vessel.

“At no time did anyone hear a splash or see anyone in the water,” Malde said.

The captain was notified, and the ferry reversed course to search for a possible man overboard. A passenger-only ferry, the Tyee, also joined in the search, following the Tacoma’s path.

“At no time did the Tyee, complete with lookouts and a powerful searchlight, see anyone in the water,” Malde said.

Court records show Brown was investigated by Bellevue police in an alleged murder-for-hire plot in 1986. He also has two theft convictions in King County.

In 1986, Brown and two other men were found in a car in Bellevue, east of Seattle, at about 1 a.m. In the car were weapons that one of the men later told police were to be used in a killing.

Bellevue police spokesman Mike Johnson said police recommended attempted first-degree murder charges against Brown and another man, Lesley Wayne Smith. But King County prosecutors charged only Smith, who was convicted of attempted murder and is serving a 20-year prison sentence, Johnson said.

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