Press: Justice takes time

Ninety-five days.

Seven bodies.

No answers.

In retrospect, the second half of 2016 was beyond challenging for the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. While Sheriff Ben Wolfinger’s team has made arrests related to the murder of Bo Kirk, several other investigations into suspicious deaths are ongoing. Among them:

• The July 30 boating crash on Lake Coeur d’Alene that left all three people on one boat dead.

• The Oct. 9 accident in Hayden in which 38-year-old Amber E. Viuhkola was struck and killed by a sheriff’s deputy’s car at 1:35 a.m. as she attempted to cross U.S. 95 at Miles Avenue.

• The early November death of 25-year-old Misty Phelps and her two sons, ages 1 and 2. The bodies of Phelps and her children were found in a submerged car near a Fernan Lake boat launch.

Hardly a day goes by without readers calling The Press, angry that details on one or more of these cases have not been released to the public (or suggesting the newspaper has failed to follow up on these important stories). We understand their frustration. We also wish to share a little perspective. More here.