Chelan Co. deputy: Missing girl's body found
WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Chelan County Sheriff's Office says the body of a missing 17-year-old Central Washington girl has been found, and detectives are investigating her death as a homicide.
Deputies said Mackenzie Cowell's body was found Saturday on the shore of the Columbia River, and it appears the body was put there by someone.
Douglas County sheriff's detectives are now investigating the scene, in an area that is know to be popular with hikers and campers. They have so far declined to confirm the Chelan County report that the girl's body is Cowell's.
No other details were immediately available, but Chelan County deputies told KXLY News in Spokane that a passer-by found Cowell's body near Crescent Bar, about 20 miles from Wenatchee, on the shore of the Columbia River.
The body was found with her feet in the water and fully clothed.
Cowell was last seen in Wenatchee as she left beauty school on Tuesday. Her car, a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix, was found several hours later, abandoned three miles away on the side of a dead-end road.
Detectives found Cowell's purse and clothes inside her car, but her debit card was missing. One set of unidentified footprints were found outside the car.
An earlier search of the steep terrain where her car was found had turned up nothing, and the state crime lab searched the car and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Cowell had been listed as an endangered missing person after her disappearance, and an FBI profiler was sent to Chelan County from Washington, D.C., to aid in the case.
MacKenzie was known as a smart student who was involved in many community functions.
Deputies said Mackenzie Cowell's body was found Saturday on the shore of the Columbia River, and it appears the body was put there by someone.
Douglas County sheriff's detectives are now investigating the scene, in an area that is know to be popular with hikers and campers. They have so far declined to confirm the Chelan County report that the girl's body is Cowell's.
No other details were immediately available, but Chelan County deputies told KXLY News in Spokane that a passer-by found Cowell's body near Crescent Bar, about 20 miles from Wenatchee, on the shore of the Columbia River.
The body was found with her feet in the water and fully clothed.
Cowell was last seen in Wenatchee as she left beauty school on Tuesday. Her car, a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix, was found several hours later, abandoned three miles away on the side of a dead-end road.
Detectives found Cowell's purse and clothes inside her car, but her debit card was missing. One set of unidentified footprints were found outside the car.
An earlier search of the steep terrain where her car was found had turned up nothing, and the state crime lab searched the car and found nothing out of the ordinary.
Cowell had been listed as an endangered missing person after her disappearance, and an FBI profiler was sent to Chelan County from Washington, D.C., to aid in the case.
MacKenzie was known as a smart student who was involved in many community functions.