SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Family members express doubt surrounding Mountlake Terrace woman’s death
Mar 25, 2016, 2:29 PM | Updated: 5:35 pm
Cheryl DeBoer went missing February. Her body was found in a nearby creek about a week after she was reported missing. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
The family of a Mountlake Terrace woman say the facts don’t add up after investigators revealed her cause of death.
Investigators said last week they do not believe Cheryl DeBoer’s death was caused by homicidal violence. The medical examiner determined DeBoer died of asphyxia due to a plastic bag placed over her head, as well as drowning.
Related: Medical examiner releases cause of Mountlake Terrace woman’s death
Mike DeBoer, Cheryl DeBoer’s husband, wants to know how a person both drowns and dies of a plastic bag over their head.
The Mountlake Terrace News reports he posted a comment on its
Mountlake Terrace News’ Facebook page, alleging that the public should be worried and that there is more information that people are not aware of.
This woman was my wife and she would never had done this to herself the police are still working on the case and there are thing[s] the public doesn’t know. And the public should be worried.
Neighbors have a similar feeling and say the facts, as they have been released to the public, don’t add up.
DeBoer’s husband isn’t the only one with doubts. DeBoer’s mother, Lenore Peterson, commented on a Facebook page in memorandum of DeBoer about the Mountlake Terrace police’s recent statement.
“As confusing as the news reports are, our family is unwilling to discontinue the investigation surrounding Cheryl’s death. It is inconceivable that Cheryl would take meat out of the freezer for dinner, text the driver of her carpool that she would be at the park and ride in 10 minutes, park her car, walk 1 1/2 miles, crawl through brambles and mud, put a plastic bag over her head and lie face down in a cold shallow creek to end her life. There is no evidence of drugs in her body, nor evidence from family or co-workers of depression or other reasons for her to even consider suicide. The lack of understandable evidence is not a reason to assume this is suicide. If Cheryl would have ever considered this, she could have thought of many easier ways to accomplish the act. I’m sorry, but Cheryl did not take her own life!! Someone out there knows something. Please contact the MLT police!!!”
The manner of death has yet to be determined as investigators continue to process evidence — that would state whether the death was suicide or homicide, etc.
Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Greg Wilson told the Mountlake Terrace News that a lack of evidence is also evidence — meaning that there is a lack of evidence in the case pointing to a homicide.
Wilson said that other agencies are contributing to the effort and they have their own timelines which, in turn, holds up the local investigation. For example, blood evidence is being analyzed in Spokane, but the technician for the job is on leave until the end of March. DeBoer’s cell phone records and computers are being analyzed as well.
Blood was found inside DeBoer’s car and on its exterior. That could have possibly come from self-inflicted cuts on DeBoer’s fingers. There was also a large amount of blood on the car floor which has been determined to be animal blood. It is not certain how that blood got into the car or what kind of animal it came from.
