Oregon quintuple murder suspect found dead in Washington

A 36-year-old man suspected of killing five people whose bodies were found on a rural property west of Portland, Oregon, was found dead inside a vehicle in Washington state on Sunday, authorities said.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspect as Benjamin Charles Parker and said investigators believe he died by suicide. Officers with the Enumclaw Police Department found Parker deceased inside his vehicle in Enumclaw, a small city in Washington, the sheriff’s office said. CBS News, citing its Portland affiliate KOIN-TV, reported that the vehicle was located behind a Safeway store.

Authorities said there is no ongoing threat to the public. Detectives do not believe the killings were random, according to the sheriff’s office, and Washington County Sheriff Caprice Massey said Sunday night that investigators believe Parker “was known to the subjects.” Officials have not described Parker’s exact relationship to the victims or said how investigators were led to him.

The investigation began Saturday morning, when authorities responded to a 911 call about a vehicle fire on a property in unincorporated Washington County, outside Forest Grove. Forest Grove is about 25 to 30 miles west of downtown Portland. Responders found the remains of five people and “several domestic animals,” authorities said.

Officials have not released the victims’ names, ages or genders. They also have not said how the victims died, what connections they may have had to one another, or what types of animals were found dead.

At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Washington County Sheriff’s Detective Shannon Wilde said investigators were still working to confirm the identities of the victims. She described the property as a “large scene” in a rural area with some other homes nearby and “a lot of vegetation.”

“Any time you have one person deceased, let alone five, that’s a logistical challenge,” Wilde said, referring to the complexity of the investigation and the size of the crime scene.

Reporters asked officials why information was not released until the afternoon after the bodies were discovered. Wilde said authorities were trying to identify the victims and notify their next of kin while also handling a “very active investigation with a lot of moving pieces.” She said investigators wanted to make sure any information released to the public was accurate and handled responsibly.

Massey urged anyone familiar with the property or the people who lived there to contact investigators.

“I will say that in my 22 years here, I have not been a part of or witnessed a scene quite this complex involving this type of an investigation,” Massey said.

Enumclaw is about 190 miles northeast of Forest Grove, according to NBC News. The sheriff’s office said Sunday that the case remains a complex investigation, but reiterated that there is no continued risk to the community.