QUINCY VALLEY POST-REGISTER |
PARTNERS |
AFFILIATED SITES |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Copyright 2008 World Publishing Company. All rights reserved. |
|||||
Report: Teen was strangled, stabbed
Mackenzie Cowell died from “manual strangulation and stab wound to the neck,” according to the death certificate signed after her autopsy.
“Blunt impact to the head” also significantly contributed to her death, the certificate said. It notes that the time interval between the homicidal violence and death was “brief.”
The Wenatchee World obtained the death certificate, a public record, from the Chelan-Douglas Health District on Feb. 23, but withheld the information until now at the request of investigators.
Investigators last Thursday continued to request that the information be withheld, saying it could make investigating their case more difficult. They said, however, that releasing the information would not prevent them from solving the case.
“The World has always published the cause of death in murder investigations as soon as it becomes available,” said Cal FitzSimmons, managing editor. “We held off for two weeks in this case at the request of the investigators. We do not see any compelling reason to continue to withhold that information from the public and we certainly do not believe it will hinder law enforcement in its efforts to catch the killer.”
The death certificate does not list a date of death, but states that her body was found Feb. 13.
The certificate was signed Feb. 19 by Dr. Gina Fino, a pathologist who works on contract for Douglas County. Steve Clem, the county’s prosecutor and coroner, said immediately after the autopsy that he would not release the cause of death until a suspect “has been identified and charged.”
On Tuesday, he declined to comment on the cause of death in light of the release of the death certificate information.
The death certificate provides no more details about Cowell’s death.
The body of Cowell, a 17-year-old Wenatchee High School student, was found on the riverbank at Crescent Bar Feb. 13. Her car was found abandoned Feb. 9 up Pitcher Canyon in the Squilchuck area.
She was last seen on a stationary video camera about 3 p.m. that day walking to her car in a city-owned parking lot behind the Academy of Hair Design, 208 S. Wenatchee Ave., where she was a student. The last use of her cell phone placed it at the boat launch area of Riverfront Park, near the foot of Orondo Avenue, at 3:40 p.m. that day.
The last activities were an incoming text message from Cowell’s boyfriend and an outgoing message to him. Both said, “Hey.”
Investigators say they have no suspects.
Could this investigation go on for months? Years? The answer would seem to be yes.
“There are investigations that go on for years, and there are some that, from up front you can identify a suspect very easily,” said Doug Jones, spokesman for the task force investigating her death. “Unfortunately, in this case, we have no witnesses, at least none that have stepped forward, and we have no obvious evidence that points to anyone in particular. It’s a different situation from a case that is solved in the first week.”
The task force remains at nine full-time detectives, Jones said, and there has been no talk of scaling back anytime soon.
Last week, he said detectives are still working leads. “Every detective in the room got a good assignment to tackle this morning, as far as moving this case forward.”
