Investigation continues into death
Detectives continue to investigate the early-morning death of a young woman found in a Spokane Valley garage Monday morning.
The woman was found dead in the garage at 3808 N. Edgerton Road about 9 a.m. Monday. Detectives have not determined an obvious cause of death, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman’s mother has been notified, but a positive identification of the body has not yet been made, Spokane County Sheriff’s Inspector Dave Wiyrick said Tuesday afternoon.
Nathaniel Cariss identified the dead woman as Lena Foutz, a friend of his.
Cariss said he went out drinking with Foutz Sunday night at Susie’s Steak & Seafood on Trent Avenue. Cariss said he drove Foutz home at the end of the night and then returned to the place where he is living on Edgerton Road, several blocks west of Millwood, and went to bed.
At some point during the night, Foutz allegedly came back to the home on Edgerton Road and entered the garage, which had been converted into a recreation room, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Cariss said he didn’t know Foutz was there until Jack Williams, his roommate, woke him the next morning and told him she was dead.
Williams, who owns the home, said he thinks the woman he knew only as “Lena” likely fell coming down the stairs from a loft in the garage. Williams said he’d been having a barbecue with friends earlier Sunday evening, but said that “Lena” didn’t come over until later in the evening and left with Cariss soon afterward.
Williams said detectives were at the house most of Monday investigating the death.
“We told exactly the truth,” Williams said. “I just hope the autopsy showed what really happened.”
An autopsy was done Tuesday. The cause of death won’t be officially determined until an investigation has been completed, according to the county medical examiner’s office.
Cariss said he was upset when a detective didn’t believe his version of the night’s events.
“They think I know what happened to her and I have no idea what happened to her,” Cariss said.