Lights & Sirens

The News Tribune's Lights & Sirens blog provides breaking news, updates on on-going investigations and insights into other news from the Tacoma, Pierce County and South Puget Sound criminal justice community. It also gives The News Tribune an avenue to interact with readers, answer “What was that?” questions and provides a venue for readers to ask about on-going criminal justice issues and problems in their neighborhoods. The blog aims to inform, educate and, at times, entertain with weird or wacky crime news.
The Lineup

Stacey Mulick covers Pierce County crime and safety issues for The News Tribune. She’s worked at The News Tribune since May 1998. Contact her at stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com.

Adam Lynn covers courts as part of the Crime and Breaking News Team at The News Tribune, where he’s worked since 2003. Lynn has spent nearly half of his 21-year career chronicling criminal justice matters in Washington and won reporting awards for his coverage of serial killer Robert Yates. “The Corpse Had a Familiar Face” by renowned Miami Herald reporter Edna Buchanan is among his favorite books. You can contact him at adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com.

Brian Everstine is a night breaking news and general assignment reporter for The News Tribune. The Spokane native arrived in Tacoma in the summer of 2008 and still is adjusting to life on this side of the mountains. He has written for papers in the Tri-Cities and his hometown. Contact him at brian.everstine@thenewstribune.com.

Occasional contributers:

Database reporter Ian Demsky, ian.demsky@thenewstribune.com.

General assignment reporter Mike Archbold, mike.archbold@thenewstribune.com.

Local crime links
Tacoma Police Department
Pierce County Sheriff's Department
Pierce County Superior Court
Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers
Tacoma Fire Department
King County Sheriff's Office
Washington State Patrol
Seattle Police Department
Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Safe Streets

Category
Calendar
November 2009
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
 << <   > >>
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30          
Archives
XML Feeds
What is RSS?
Misc
Who's Online?
  • CustomScoop Email
  • kamieniecki Email
  • Eric Williams Email
  • artman77 Email
  • Guest Users: 501
Go behind the yellow tape with the The News Tribune's Crime & Breaking News Team.
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
Posted by Stacey Mulick @ 05:00:00 am

Today marks Teekah Lewis' 13th birthday.

The little girl from Tacoma disappeared from a bowling alley more than 10 years ago. There's been no sign of her since.

To mark her daughter's birthday, Theresa Lewis says she's going to go down to the site of the bowling alley today. (The bowling alley was razed years ago and now a fast-food restaurant stands in its place.) She'll put up signs and leave 13 balloons for her daughter.

"It's going to be hard," Lewis said earlier this week. "This is her 11th birthday that I am not going to be there. She's not going to be home."

Find my most recent story about Teekah's disappearance below.

=> Read more!

Categories: All, Tacoma, Missing persons
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 09:55:27 pm

The Kent woman who was reported missing last Wednesday was found in Tacoma, police said.

Tina Williams was found at about 8 p.m. in the 1100 block of Tacoma Avenue South. She was in good medical condition, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

After she was reported missing, police added her name into a state and national crime information system, which helped Tacoma Police find and identify her, Kent police said.

Categories: All, Missing persons
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 04:45:30 pm
Aydelotte

The King County Sheriff's Office is asking the public for help locating a missing 57-year-old man.

Sydney Wayne Aydelotte was last seen at an adult family home at 28849 38th Avenue South in unincorporated King County, near Auburn. He reportedly suffers from undiagnosed pre-dementia.

He was last seen wearing a red shirt under a blue sweater and white shoes. He is friendly, and likes to collect cans. He possible will ride a King County Metro bus.

Anyone who has seen Aydelotte is urged to call the King County Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311.

Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 10:13:44 pm

Tacoma Police are looking for a child who has been missing since about 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said a woman and her two children drove to the Home Depot on Tacoma Mall Boulevard. The mom went in, leaving her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son in the car. The two got into an argument, and the 10-year-old walked off.

The daughter told her mother, and the two looked in the area and couldn't find the child. They called the police, who have been searching the area.

Fulghum said a neighbor told officers that she saw a boy matching the missing child's general description walking with an adult a few blocks from the store near South 64th Street and Wapato Street.

He is described as a 4-foot tall black male, wearing a red shirt, jeans and black and white shoes. Anyone with information should contact Tacoma Police.

UPDATE: The missing child has been found safe, Fulghum said. It appears he just wandered off.

UPDATE No. 2: A Pierce Transit supervisor found the boy and took him to an off-duty officer. The officials "put two and two together" and discovered he was the missing boy.

The boy was reunited with his family.

"He just got mad and wandered off," Fulghum said.

Categories: All, Tacoma, Missing persons
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 06:14:47 pm

An AMBER Alert has been issued for a Tonasket infant missing since Monday afternoon.

A court order was issued to place Joshua Pier in specialized foster and medical care. He was diagnosed with PKU metabolic disorder, his health is at imminent risk. The suspect is 18-year-old Gretchen Pier, who is 5-foot-4, 165 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. The vehicle is a gold 1989 Honda Accord, Washington license 351-YOU.

Anyone with information should contact the Okanogan County Sheriff's Office at 509-422-7232.

UPDATE 9:30 p.m. The AMBER Alert has been lifted. The infant was found in Sedro-Woolley in Skagit County, KOMO News reported.

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 04:11:37 pm
Pfc. Wheatley

Fort Lewis officials have identified the soldier missing from the Nisqually River as 23-year-old Pfc. Robert Lang Wheatley, Jr.

Wheatley, of Arcadia, Calif., was rafting with fellow soldiers on Sunday when the rafts capsized. He is assigned to Battery C., 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade.

Thurston and Pierce County officials are working with fellow soldiers from Wheatley's unit to find the missing man. More than 200 soldiers are searching along with divers, police dogs, helicopters, and an airplane.

Wheatley joined the Army in 2005. He was deployed in Iraq from April 2007 to June 2008.

Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Posted by Stacey Mulick @ 11:53:58 am

Law enforcement officers have found a Kent man who was reported missing Wednesday afternoon.

Clarence Perkins Jr. was found about 10 a.m. today as he traveled from Canada into the United States at the Sumas border crossing, Kent police reported.

"A routine check of his vehicle license by US border security identified Mr. Perkins' vehicle and then him as being listed in the national computer as a missing person," the police agency reported. "He is well, and will be waiting at the border crossing for his family."

Investigators believe Perkins went into Canada Tuesday before the missing person report was entered into the computer. (That was done at 8 p.m.)

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 03:45:59 pm
Perkins

A 76-year-old man is missing from a Kent home he is visiting, and police say he is endangered.

Clarence Perkins Jr. left at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning to repair his car in SeaTac, but never arrived. His family drove the route and checked with area hospitals, and ended up reporting him missing to Kent police.

Family members say Perkins has diabetes and is in early stages of dementia. He is becoming more forgetful, and his not carrying a cell phone. He has identification and phone numbers for his wife and son, who lives in Tacoma.

He is a 5-foot-7. 180-pound black man with gray hair, side burns and a mustache. He was last seen wearing a black hat with "Riviera" on the front, a gray sweatshirt, brown pants and a black jacket. He was driving a white 1995 Chrysler Concorde with Nevada license plate PH54630. The right tail light is broken and covered with red tape.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Doug Garrett at 253-856-5924 or call 911.

Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 04:46:07 pm

From the AP:

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A 16-year-old Vancouver girl with a type of autism has been found in Tacoma after being missing overnight.

Vancouver police tell The Columbian newspaper that the girl, Carisa Tuck, was found safe Thursday afternoon in Tacoma. Details about how she got from her home in Vancouver to Tacoma were not immediately released.

Police had been concerned about the girl because she has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. She was reported missing by her parents Wednesday evening, and a search was launched

.

Categories: All, Tacoma, Missing persons
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
Posted by Brian Everstine @ 03:59:16 pm
McLemore

Kent Police are looking for a woman who has been missing for a week, and her cell phone is now out of service.

Police say the last time anyone had heard from Alyssa A. McLemore was at 6:30 p.m. on April 9. Her grandmother told her that Alyssa's mother was ill. Since that conversation, no one had seen McLemore.

The next day someone called 911 from McLemore's cell phone asking for help. The phone did not have a GPS sensor, so officers were not able to locate her. After the call, officers spoke to McLemore's grandmother, who did not know where her granddaughter was.

On Sunday, McLemore's mother died.

"Kent Police are worried about Alyssa's welfare due to the call to 9-1-1 and as she has not checked on her mother in several days," Kent Police said in a news release.

McLemore is Asian/Pacific Islander, 5-foot-1 and 130 pounds. Officers are asking anyone who has seen or talked with her since April 9 to call Kent Police at 253-856-5800.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Posted by Stacey Mulick @ 08:48:34 am

Pierce County sheriff's deputies are searching for a 61-year-old man who has not returned to his Spanaway home after telling his family he was going to Ocean Shores.

Gordon C. Smart (pictured here) was last seen March 21 when he left his Spanaway home in his 1975 Dodge Tioga motorhome, Washington license plate 724-WBU, the Sheriff's Department reported.

There's been no activity on his cell phone or bank accounts.

Family members reported him missing, noting his disappearance was out of character. Smart is the primary caregiver for his 86-year-old mother, deputies reported.

The Sheriff's Department alerted the public to the disappearance Wednesday.

Smart is white, 5 feet 8 and 180 pounds. He had brown/gray hair, blue eyes and wears glasses, deputies reported.

Anyone with information is asked to call authorities.

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
Posted by Stacey Mulick @ 03:26:35 pm

An Amber Alert has been issued for two young children believed to be taken by their mother during a supervised visit at a Tacoma office this morning.

State social workers had taken Zariyah Brown, 1, and her 3-year-old brother, Deon Brown, from their home six days ago because of “extensive abuse,” the AMBER Alert states.

The mother and her boyfriend were scheduled for a supervised visit with the boy and girl this morning at the Department of Social and Health Services Office on South State Street in Tacoma this morning.

Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said the children were taken during the supervised visit at about 11 a.m.

Zariyah is described as a black girl, 2 feet 8 and 24 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Deon is black, 3 feet 5 and weighs 43 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

The mother, 24-year-old Tivice Evans, and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Ahzariyah Yasharahla, might be driving a gray, four-door 2007 Nissan Sentra with Washington state license plates 617XBP.

Anyone with information about the children or the car to call 911.

Categories: All, Missing persons