Drifter sought in probe of girl's death

LAKEWOOD, Pierce County — Police are looking for a 44-year-old man they think may know something about the death of Adre'Anna Jackson, a 10-year-old girl who disappeared from Tillicum in December and whose bones were found in a vacant lot last week.

Lakewood police said the man, Spencer Douglas Grant or "Spence," is not a suspect in the girl's death. He is a transient who frequents the vacant, overgrown lot where Adre'Anna's skull and spine were found Tuesday by children playing. Police said they have reason to think he can help them.

"We hope he comes forward because he wants to do the right thing," said Lakewood police Lt. Bret Farrar. "A lot of people do when it comes to children."

Police are also hoping that a reward — which was raised to $60,000 yesterday when the FBI contributed $50,000 to the fund — will be an added incentive, Farrar said.

A woman who identified herself as Grant's mother said she, too, is worried she doesn't know his whereabouts.

"I don't know how to get ahold of him," Dolores Grant of Mankato, Minn., told a reporter in a phone interview.

She said he has been in and out of jails in Pierce and Snohomish counties since November. When she last talked to him on March 24, he told her his girlfriend just gave birth to their daughter. It was his first daughter.

"He was all happy," she said.

Adre'Anna was last seen on the morning of Dec. 2 when her parents said they sent her off on a five-minute walk to see whether her school, Tillicum Elementary, was closed because of snow.

Her bones were found in a vacant lot near Woodbrook Middle School and near a back gate of the Fort Lewis Army Base. The lot, about two miles from where Adre'Anna was last seen, had been used for years as a dumping ground by some and as a campground by transients, police said.

Police asked that people with information contact Lakewood police or CrimeStoppers at 253-591-5959.

Seattle Times staff reporter Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com