Found Deceased WA - Cheryl DeBoer, 54, Mountlake Terrace, 8 February 2016 #6

[krig101]

As mentioned by Vail I can see it being possible that the bag was ready in the water and the current caused it to go over her head.

I too have wondered if it was raining and she used the bag to cover her hair.

Or maybe she was carrying her phone and wallet and maybe some other items in the bag and was robbed? I use plastic bags all of the time to carry items.

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[steelman]

Not applicable, unfortunately. The young woman was found sitting in a car, with a so-called suicide note that did not sound like her and a plastic bag loosely over her head. And she was surrounded by her wedding thank-you notes, which she was in the midst of addressing. Then someone confessed, but there complications and charges were dropped. Investigation is still open.

No animal blood, culverts, razor blades, clean tox reports, or missing personal items in that episode, huh ?

No one was convicted and the case is still open............yeah................that sounds about right.

Undetermined.

 

[Treelights]

http://www.crimestoppers.com/death-cheryl-deboer-csops-220/

This crime stoppers went from Missing to Homicide to Suspicious Death.

IMOO.

 

[Yvettea]

http://www.crimestoppers.com/death-cheryl-deboer-csops-220/

This crime stoppers went from Missing to Homicide to Suspicious Death.

IMOO.

They did nothing with the information I tried to provide them. :gaah:

 

[Treelights]

They did nothing with the information I tried to provide them. :gaah:

Thank you so much for trying!!!!

 

[Stripehaven]

I just watched that as well. What a freak show, poor woman.

(No thanks button on phone but I had to acknowledge!). Very, very odd. Repression never seems to work out very well.

It is funny how moisture is not always even noticed around here. I seriously barely register rain unless it is soaking. Umbrellas? Feh.

 

[mrsgladyskravitz]

She was found in a large culvert containing a creek. Her clothes were not disheveled and there were no tears in the fabric. Her glasses were folded. Brambles covering the eastside of the culvert had not been disturbed. There were no signs of disturbance to the ground along the west side of the culvert, Wilson said.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20160323/NEWS01/160329601

"If the brambles covering the eastside of the culvert were not disturbed on the east" AND "There were no signs of disturbance to the ground along the west side of the culvert", from WHERE did she enter? Up stream where there is unobstructed access to, and into creek?

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[Stripehaven]

No animal blood, culverts, razor blades, clean tox reports, or missing personal items in that episode, huh ?

No one was convicted and the case is still open............yeah................that sounds about right.

Undetermined.

Oh, the police believe it was murder. They do not have sufficient evidence to gain a conviction. They haven't given up.

 

[mrsgladyskravitz]

I thought Stryker said something earlier that LE was further north looking at that area. I have been trying to find it but cant seem to locate his post now.

There is a unobstructed access to the creek, aprx. 125' north of monument.

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[steelman]

Some documentation on drowning and asphyxia for those interested. http://www.forensicpathologyonline.com/E-Book/asphyxia/drowning

Stryker57's posts:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5417564

Lavaland's posts:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5417568

I spent many years counselling suicidal people and been there myself. Usually the methods that come to mind are the fastest or most convenient - unless you want someone to suffer afterwards. When considering other people, ie "I don't want them to find me", usually a more remote place is discovered, if ever at all. She had to know she would be found in that culvert, and that her family would learn the details, otherwise if she didn't care, there is no explanation for why she wasn't in the car or her home. As someone else pointed out, it is really difficult to kill yourself in the manner she was found without the help of drugs, alcohol, or other devices to restrict your survival response. We do her an injustice by calling the bag found with her an Exit Bag - it was a plastic take out bag. The two things are very different and IMO one implies premeditation and the other doesn't. It is entirely possible the bag was already in the culvert, came to be around her head from moving water or some other means, and has nothing to do with her death. LE may have forensic evidence to the contrary - we don't know, but I do agree with some of you that this is either a diabolical homicide, or a perplexing suicide with one or more red herrings.

Her keys, phone and wallet are probably in a landfill, which wouldn't help clarify anything if they were found at this point IMO. If you look at all the facts we have and the timeline, none of it adds up to support either finding, so I can completely understand LE's statements.

You sound highly educated on this subject. I realize you're not a verified expert through Websleuths, but that really doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I can tell by the way you write that you know what you're talking about.

I'm interested to know your thoughts on a woman who is claustrophobic and on no drugs what-so-ever, walking or hitching a ride to a culvert that is half filled with water, placing a plastic bag over her head to the point she passes out, and then inhales a small enough amount of water to drown afterwards.

1) What event in a persons life would instigate an action like this ?

2) Have you ever seen a suicide that is this complex and complicated ?

3) If this was a suicide..........in your opinion..........why was it done the way it was ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DanceCard]

Did we ever find out the year of Cheryl's car? There was some confusion about its age. Is it a 98 or '88 model?

 

[mrsgladyskravitz]

Perhaps Cheryl's killer(s) dine at the same restaurant named on the plastic bag which covered her head!

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[Yvettea]

Did we ever find out the year of Cheryl's car? There was some confusion about its age. Is it a 98 or '88 model?

The Subaru Legacy was not manufactured until 1989 and the body style was different from that of Cheryl's car. The legacy was restyled in 1995 and models for several years after that look about the same.

I assumed 1998 because I thought they were off by 10 years. I don't really know.

 

[otto]

I am stepping away from the boards for awhile. I do admit the evidence the police are releasing are leaning one way, I have never been able to rule the suicide scenario out. Tox results did come back clean, per what police released to us last week. At this point I don't care they haven't released that. I really hope something is found with analysis of all the evidence that is still being processed to prove otherwise. Emotionally I am having conflicting theories and thoughts, and being on the board is distracting me from all my daily tasks I need to do. Work, home life, etc... I may visit to see what is being discussed, but I am going to avoid answering any questions or commenting for some while. I appreciate all your support.

I think you must be in a very difficult position, partially in shock from the loss of your mother and accompanying confusion surrounding first her disappearance and then her unexplained death, and partially feeling helpless due to the inability of police to identify evidence of why she was found in the culvert. I think it's a good idea to take time rest, regroup, reflect, and mourn.

I'm not sure this helps, but let me tell you about another case from a couple of years ago. Two cousins were biking one summer afternoon. Their bikes were found where they were expected (first place the family looked), but the cousins were gone. Months passed, and their bodies were found 20 miles away near a creek. There is no evidence that a murder occurred except that they could not have gotten to the location of their bodies without foul play. If your mother had been found 20 miles away, no one would question that a second person was involved.

The suicide theory doesn't work for me, but I've been wrong before. Everything about the scenes suggest suicide, too much so. It is so well done as a suicide, that it suggests a staged suicide - right down to the minor cuts on her fingers, blood in the vehicle, the razor blade in a pocket, the bag from a place she frequents. Many people have suggested that this could be someone close to her, and that now appears to be more likely to me.

I don't know much about suicide except that typically with women it is a call for help, and for men it is a final decision. What happened with your mom does not even begin to resemble a call for help, and it appears to be so disorganized in terms of planning that it could be a call for help except it doesn't add up as a call for help.

The fact that it does not add up, any more than the missing cousins case, suggests that it will be a very difficult murder case to solve.

 

[DanceCard]

The Subaru Legacy was not manufactured until 1989 and the body style was different from that of Cheryl's car. The legacy was restyled in 1995 and models for several years after that looks about the same.

I assumed 1998 because I thought they were off by 10 years. I don't really know.

Thanks for this. I thought the car looked like a more modern design than a 1988 model but I don't really know very much about cars so wasn't sure.

 

[dizzychick]

It's possible I suppose, but I would think that she would have a hat or an umbrella considering that she lives in what I consider a "rainy state".

IMOO.

people here dont use umbrellas LOl I was told if you are seen with an umbrella that means you are an out of towner LOl seriously, this one guy kept my hubby out in the rain for 30 minutes just chatting away, they dont seem to mind getting wet in this state and I dont get the " we dont use umbrellas " either lol

 

[Stripehaven]

The Subaru Legacy was not manufactured until 1989 and the body style was different from that of Cheryl's car. The legacy was restyled in 1995 and models for several years after that look about the same.

I assumed 1998 because I thought they were off by 10 years. I don't really know.

1988 Subaru Impreza

 

[anonymess]

Perhaps a stupid question, but would a helium tank float? And if it had emptied, would it float? I can see that if there was an elastic or knot secured on the bag it could have loosened/broke etc after a week in the water.

 

[ANZAC]

However, Cheryl may have been lying in very cold water which would have an effect on the body.

Great point. I don't know the water temp in the culvert, but in very cold water your reaction is to inhale suddenly (with a bag over your head/mouth it is going to not help things either). Many cold water river deaths in WA are from drowning from the Cold Shock Response and NOT hypothermia.

 

[blue888]

I know they have not publicly released their evidence backing their statement (that she was in the vicinity where her car was found), though I imagine they possibly will when/if the ME makes a manner of death determination. I do believe LE has the evidence though, although I expect there is additional forensic work going on as part of the outstanding items they mentioned that will cover this point in the timeline.

I think from the POV of the discussion here, we should just trust what they said.

Being in the vicinity does not mean she left the car on her own accord, as you imply by your statements.