Body found on bank of Puyallup River identified as woman missing for weeks
A person’s body discovered earlier this month on a bank of the Puyallup River was identified Wednesday as a 58-year-old woman whom Puyallup police said was reported missing weeks earlier.
Dorothy Schoene of Spokane was found dead April 1 along the edge of the Puyallup River. She was last seen alive March 1 while leaving a facility in downtown Puyallup, according to a missing person bulletin from Puyallup Police Department.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office listed Schoene’s cause and manner of death as pending.
On Wednesday, Puyallup Police Department spokesperson Capt. Ryan Portmann said investigation into Schoene’s death was ongoing, and that detectives were awaiting the findings of the medical examiner to determine the circumstances of her death.
He said detectives were working to establish a timeline of Schoene’s whereabouts between when she went missing and when she was found on the banks of the Puyallup.
“We’re following up like we would with any other death investigation, and we will go where the facts lead us,” Portmann said.
The woman was found about 500 yards downriver from where East Main Avenue crosses the river, Portmann said earlier this month. Four people were walking along the river’s edge at about 5:25 p.m. when they spotted a body partially in the river and alerted police.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 3:15 PM.
