Crime lab determines human blood on items left in Auburn woods

Blood found on flooring and clothing dumped along a wooded road in Auburn Wednesday afternoon is human, according to the Washington State Patrol crime lab.

The Seattle Times reports officers have searched several spots near Peasley Canyon Road where the items were abandoned. Investigators also searched South 277th Street and 55th Avenue South, a remote location near Auburn.

However, police say the only scene where evidence of a crime was found is the original Peasley Canyon location where the flooring was discovered.

Police say the bloody carpeting, flooring, and clothing was discovered when an off-duty federal agent driving by Wednesday afternoon saw a fire, stopped with his extinguisher, and saw a dark SUV speed off.

Commander Mike Hirman says the agent tried chasing the suspect, but lost him and called police.

A suspect is described as being a possibly mixed race male in his late 20s to early 30s, between 5’8” – 5’10” tall, with a thin build and short dark hair.

Commander Mike Hirman says the agent tried chasing the suspect, but lost him and called police.

“We have reason to believe this is a homicide, and if not a homicide, a serious assault,” Hirman says. “There was a significant amount of blood.”

Hirman says investigators are looking for the dark SUV and a potential victim and crime scene. He says they are reaching out to other jurisdictions for possible connections and evidence.

“If this is a homicide, there will probably be a body dump site. And if that is different from the assault scene, then we’ll have that as well. So if we find those, we can link them,” he says.

If you have any information about the incident, you’re asked to call Auburn police at 253-288-2121.

MyNorthwest.com’s Josh Kerns and the Associated Press contributed to this report.