Serial Killer Task Force Investigating New Murder Police Believe Woman’S Body Dumped At Site Within Last Week

Spokane’s serial killer task force is investigating the case of a woman found murdered in the East Central neighborhood Tuesday.

The body of Michelyn Derning, 47, was discovered near Crestline and Main.

A homeless man found the body in a vacant lot behind a business. Derning was naked and covered with branches, weeds and a hot-tub cover, police Capt. Steve Braun said Wednesday.

Braun would not speculate on the cause of death. “But it’s a homicide,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

An autopsy has been scheduled for today.

Authorities believe the woman’s body was dumped in the overgrown lot less than a week ago.

The homeless man, whose identity was withheld by police, had camped 10 feet away from the corpse for three days before he smelled something foul and investigated, Braun said.

When he saw the body, he called police from a nearby resident’s home.

Detectives, including members of the serial killer task force, cordoned off the area and began looking for clues.

Task force members are investigating the murders of 20 women since 1984. They have linked seven of the homicides to one killer.

It has become routine for them to be called out on any homicide involving a woman in the Spokane area.

The task force will remain involved in the Derning case until it can establish whether she is linked to any of the other murders, Braun said.

The case is similar to that of Heather Hernandez, a 20-year-old drifter found murdered in east Spokane in August.

A man searching for aluminum cans discovered Hernandez’s body in an overgrown lot behind a business in the 1800 block of East Springfield. She had been shot.

The task force is investigating the Hernandez case although it has not been linked to the serial killings.

Authorities don’t know much about Derning’s background, or whether she fit the profile of the serial killer’s victims. Most of the women murdered by the serial killer worked as prostitutes and used illegal drugs.

Derning has one misdemeanor arrest in Spokane County. City police arrested Derning in May after her former boyfriend said she damaged some of his property.

She was negotiating a plea bargain with prosecutors on the malicious mischief charge and was scheduled to appear in court today, according to Municipal Court records.