Task Force Combs Area

Searchers acting on orders from Spokane’s serial killer task force spent Wednesday combing a remote area near Mount Spokane where a body was discovered the day before.

They found no additional bodies or other evidence, but may be back on the scene today, said sheriff’s Capt. Doug Silver, a task force commander.

“There’s a big area up there that we want covered,” Silver said.

A passerby discovered the corpse near an old uranium mine Tuesday afternoon, not far from the intersection of Elliot and Wallis roads.

Investigators still don’t know whether the body is that of a man or a woman, how long it had been at the remote site or the cause of death. An autopsy may be performed on the badly decomposed remains Friday, Silver said.

The task force, which is chasing a killer who has killed at least seven women in the past year, ordered a thorough search of the area.

Three of the serial killer’s victims were found in the same gravel pit near 14th and Carnahan on the South Hill in December and April. Two were discovered within a mile of each other in Hangman Valley last year.

Investigators later used a helicopter with infra-red sensors to search the areas where those bodies were found earlier this year. The copter did not make any sweeps near Mount Spokane.

The task force also is looking into the unsolved killings of 13 other women, three of whom were shot and dumped in the Mount Spokane area.

Silver said the task force is continuing to investigate tips, but that progress on the immense case is slow. “We’ve got a large number of people of interest, but nothing near a suspect,” he said.