Law enforcement caught a 56-year-old Montesano man in Yakima County Wednesday afternoon, fleeing toward Eastern Washington, hours after a potential homicide involving his girlfriend.
The Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office said that Eugene Elkins had been apprehended without incident.
A 58-year-old woman was found dead inside a residence on Clemons Road near Montesano at about 8 a.m. this morning, prompting an immediate search for Elkins. and the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a suspect who is believed to be her 56-year-old boyfriend.
Undersheriff Rick Scott said the woman appears to have suffered homicidal violence, but officers were still on the scene processing information into Wednesday afternoon.
Scott said the suspect has only been in the area for a couple of years and is originally from Eastern Washington, where he was headed.
Elkins lived in a tranquil mobile home park, with kept up lawns and fences. Neighbors were in disbelief at what had happened.
Neighbor Fred Ouellette said he knew Elkins had friends in Eastern Washington but he noted that he rarely saw Elkins drive. Ouelette lives immediately next door to Elkins, and said he often knew the girlfriend was living there but rarely saw her.
He said Elkins moved into space #58 in early 2011.
“There were no problems but I didn’t converse with him much at all,” Ouelette said. “I really didn’t like the guy. He was peculiar, let’s just say that.”
Scott said Elkins does not have a felony record.
After deputies began processing the scene, Scott said, they found no evidence of a gunshot or cuts from a bladed weapon, but did find “significant trauma to her body consistent with a physical assault.”
An autopsy was scheduled to be performed later Thursday, and deputies were still trying to find the next of kin for the victim before releasing her name.
“There was some forensic evidence that we found at the scene that may be evidence of what occurred here, but at this point it would be premature to discuss that,” Scott said.
