205 W 5th Ave Ellensburg, WA 98926-2887
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Kittitas (pronounced 'KITT-i-tass') County is located in central Washington State. It spans from the lush forested Cascade Mountains to the upper Yakima River Valley plains and the Columbia River.
Kittitas County, WA - 04/16/2025 - At 9:20 pm on January 21, an injured woman flagged down a passing car on I-90 near milepost 57 near Snoqualmie Pass. The driver called 911 and drove her to nearby medics and law enforcement. She was transported to Harborview Hospital.The woman told detectives she was abducted at her apartment in the south Seattle area by three Venezuelan men who stole $20,000 in gold jewelry she had purchased for her business. They pushed her into their car, threatened to kill her and her family, and tortured her with a power drill to get her bank account information. Finally, they drove to Snoqualmie Pass, pushed her over a concrete barrier along I-90, and shot her. She lay still in the snow as the men drove away, leaving her for dead. The men returned to the woman’s apartment, where they stole her car.
That night launched a three-month investigation by Kittitas and King County Sheriff’s detectives, the Lake Oswego Police Department, and the FBI. Investigators traveled to Oregon, Illinois, and Texas. One suspect was arrested in Chicago, still in possession of the car used in the crime and with the woman’s stolen jewelry in his motel room. A second suspect was arrested last week in Seattle. The third suspect has been identified, and his involvement is still under investigation. The two men in custody are each being held on $1 million bail, charged with first degree attempted murder, kidnapping, and robbery. The premeditation, planning, and extreme violence of this crime, combined with other evidence, lead investigators to believe at least one of the arrested men has ties to Tren De Aragua, a violent criminal gang based in Venezuela. Sheriff Clay Myers stated, “This case is a heinous example of the increasingly violent crime we face and need to address more urgently at the local, state, and federal levels. I’m grateful for the cooperation and tireless work of the King County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the other criminal justice partners who brought about these arrests.”
Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us
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Contact: Chris Whitsett509-62-7525christopher.whitsett@co.kittitas.wa.us
