JOYCE — A woman has been found dead in Salt Creek RV Park, and the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office has begun a murder investigation and is looking for a “person of interest.”
The woman’s car was found in Oregon.
Diane Cunningham, 65, likely died of blunt force trauma to the head, Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said Wednesday.
She was found dead in her small mobile home Monday by her daughter and the daughter’s husband, who are from King County, after they had not heard from her for more than a week, Cameron said.
“We weren’t able to immediately determine cause of death, so we treated it as a suspicious death and that we were going into a crime scene,” Cameron said, adding that it now has been classified as a murder.
Cameron said deputies are looking for Joel Kevin Brown, 52, as a “person of interest” in the case.
“He’s not a suspect, but he hasn’t been seen, and some people were telling us he was staying with her on and off,” Cameron said.
Cameron said an autopsy had taken place Wednesday afternoon.
Brown is being described as an acquaintance of Cunningham and is listed as a transient.
Cameron said there is at least one Department of Corrections warrant for Brown’s arrest.
The warrant is not related to this case. Cameron did not know the reason for it being issued.
Cameron added that Cunningham’s car was found missing from her home at the RV park on state Highway 112 west of Port Angeles.
“We put out feelers all over for the car, and [Tuesday] afternoon, authorities called us to say the car had been located,” he said.
The car was located in Malheur County, Ore., near the southeast Oregon-Idaho border.
“A hunter located it and thought it was suspicious because it was abandoned and reported it,” he said.
