Missing woman is found dead

An Everett woman who disappeared from a Federal Way apartment complex Sunday was found dead in a wooded ravine west of Tacoma on Wednesday.

The Pierce County medical examiner identified the woman as Melanie Gail Vincent, 28, and determined she had been slain.

Federal Way police were called to the Steel Lake Court Apartments in the 31200 block of 28th Avenue South on Sunday and found a 26-year-old White Center man, who had been shot numerous times, on the hallway floor, said Cmdr. Greg Wilson. Investigators followed a trail of blood and determined that the man had been shot in a car in the parking lot. The car, which was still running, was registered to Vincent, he said.

Federal Way police alerted other local agencies, and on Wednesday, Pierce County sheriff's deputies investigated the discovery of a woman's body in a ravine in the Browns Point area, Wilson said. Vincent's body was found by a resident walking a dog in the 5100 block of Hyada Boulevard Northeast. Wilson declined to say how Vincent died.

The White Center man, whom police have not identified, remains in critical condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, Wilson said.

"It's not an investigation running blind — there is a focus to the investigation," said Wilson. He added that police are still asking anyone with information to call 253-835-6799.

New effort to find meth suspects

A new initiative was announced last month to crack down on people who are wanted on methamphetamine-related charges but fail to show up in court. Yesterday, the first "Meth Watch" suspect was profiled.

The initiative was the brainchild of Metropolitan King County Councilman Reagan Dunn and is a partnership between the King County Sheriff's Office and Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of James C. Bradley, 38, of Burien, who has been charged with possessing meth and possessing precursor ingredients with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, according to the Sheriff's Office. Bradley is described as white, 5 feet 10 and 170 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Authorities are asking anyone who has seen Bradley or knows where he is to call 1-800-CRIME(27463)-13. Anonymous tipsters will be eligible for up to a $1,000 reward.

City tops Detroit in stolen vehicles

Seattle recently beat out Detroit in making the country's Top 10 list for the number of stolen vehicles per capita, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference yesterday.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau determined 944 vehicles per 100,000 residents were stolen in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area in 2003. The chief used yesterday's news conference to announce two new programs to combat car thieves, one being implemented now, the other a future pilot project.

The first program is being organized by the Seattle Neighborhood Group, a local nonprofit. The group received an $8,500 grant from Safeco Insurance that will be used to help Seattle residents pay for steel anti-theft devices that lock onto steering wheels. The devices usually cost about $40, but the first 1,800 people to download and mail a request form from www.sngi.org or pick one up from a Safeco Insurance branch office will pay $20, including shipping and taxes.

The chief also announced that his department is looking to outfit at least two police vehicles with exterior cameras that will scan license plates to search for stolen vehicles or vehicles whose owners are wanted on arrest warrants. The pilot project may be launched as early as January. Now, an officer looking for stolen vehicles must manually enter license-plate numbers and letters into a computer and can maybe "check 150 to 200 a day," Kerlikowske said. With the new technology, the same officer could scan "almost 9,000 license plates in a shift," he said.

Officials to answer marina-fire queries

A public meeting is planned for 7 tonight at the Gig Harbor Yacht Club, where officials will answer questions about a marina fire that destroyed about 50 boats moored at the Harborview Marina on Wednesday.

Yesterday, a crane worked to remove the crumpled remains of a steel canopy that once covered the privately owned slips, said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez. "We're trying to get the roof off so we can see what we're dealing with," he said. Investigators don't yet know how many boats may have sunk.

Rodriguez said officials won't know how much oil, gas and other pollutants got into the water until divers go down to investigate. "If they're not leaking now, they will be soon," Rodriguez said of the burned boats. "What we're seeing right now is just sheening — we're not seeing large pockets of gas or oil."

Much of the fuel might have burned in the fire, he added.

Environmental damage has largely been contained, thanks to a 500-foot oil-containment boom that was purchased recently and deployed soon after the fire started.

Times staff and news services