Body found by searchers looking for missing teen
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MORTON, Wash. - A male body was found Tuesday afternoon near a Lewis County logging road, about 10 miles from the home of a 16-year-old boy who mysteriously vanished last month.
The body was found by friends and family members who were out looking for the missing boy, Austin King, who was last seen on June 23.
Investigators are now gathering evidence at the scene and working with the coroner's office, said Cmdr. Steve Aust of the Lewis County Sheriff's Office.
Officials have not confirmed whether the body is that of the missing boy.
"There have been a lot of people looking for him - we've been looking for him. We've run down several leads of people saying they saw him in Omak, in Chehalis and Centralia - and I always held out hope that we're going to find him alive," said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
"And I'm not saying whether this is him or not - I don't know at this point," he added.
But the discovery of the body has left Austin's mother, Christy Harper, sick at heart.
"She wanted us to bring him home, and she wanted us to bring him home alive," said Jennifer Mau, one of the searchers. "Her feeling is we've brought Austin home - not the way we wanted, but we brought Austin home."
An autopsy will be scheduled as soon as possible, Aust said.
He said it appeared the body had been there quite some time, and he called it a "suspicious death."
King, 16, was last seen on June 23 when he said goodnight to some of his friends, then went to bed inside the small cabin behind the family's trailer home in the small town of Morton.
His family said earlier that it was completely out of character for Austin to leave without telling anyone.
"He's always told me where he's at, where he's going to go," said his mother, Christy Harper. "He doesn't ever go in the dark by himself, doesn't ever go to the river by himself; always has somebody with him."
Family and friends have been searching for Austin ever since he vanished, and posted missing person signs all over the state, from Yakima to Tacoma.
The body was found by friends and family members who were out looking for the missing boy, Austin King, who was last seen on June 23.
Investigators are now gathering evidence at the scene and working with the coroner's office, said Cmdr. Steve Aust of the Lewis County Sheriff's Office.
Officials have not confirmed whether the body is that of the missing boy.
"There have been a lot of people looking for him - we've been looking for him. We've run down several leads of people saying they saw him in Omak, in Chehalis and Centralia - and I always held out hope that we're going to find him alive," said Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
"And I'm not saying whether this is him or not - I don't know at this point," he added.
But the discovery of the body has left Austin's mother, Christy Harper, sick at heart.
"She wanted us to bring him home, and she wanted us to bring him home alive," said Jennifer Mau, one of the searchers. "Her feeling is we've brought Austin home - not the way we wanted, but we brought Austin home."
An autopsy will be scheduled as soon as possible, Aust said.
He said it appeared the body had been there quite some time, and he called it a "suspicious death."
King, 16, was last seen on June 23 when he said goodnight to some of his friends, then went to bed inside the small cabin behind the family's trailer home in the small town of Morton.
His family said earlier that it was completely out of character for Austin to leave without telling anyone.
"He's always told me where he's at, where he's going to go," said his mother, Christy Harper. "He doesn't ever go in the dark by himself, doesn't ever go to the river by himself; always has somebody with him."
Family and friends have been searching for Austin ever since he vanished, and posted missing person signs all over the state, from Yakima to Tacoma.
