Missing Kitsap woman found dead in Discovery Bay

by AMANDA WINTERS

Sequim Gazette

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office investigators still are not sure how a 57-year-old woman living in Poulsbo ended up dead on Gardiner Beach.

Janeth Walker moved to Poulsbo from Pennsylvania over the summer to stay with her twin sister, said Joe Nole, Jefferson County Sheriff's chief criminal deputy.

Walker often would go on long drives around the area so it was no surprise when on Oct. 18 she told her sister she was going exploring, he said. But when she didn't come home for dinner, her sister got concerned, Nole said.

Walker was reported missing to the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office on Oct. 19. Around 3:48 p.m. that day a man walking his dog on Gardiner Beach found Walker's fully-clothed body in Discovery Bay, Jefferson County Sheriff Anthony Hernandez said.

Walker's car was parked near the beach and contained several McDonald's bags and a GPS among other things, Nole said. Deputies will conduct a thorough search of the car to find clues as to how long Walker had been at the beach before her body was found, Nole said.

"We think she may have been there the night before and it wasn't until the next day that she was found," he said.

An autopsy conducted Wednesday, Oct. 20, failed to show a cause of death so deputies are awaiting the results of lab tests, which could take two to three weeks to be completed, he said.

There is no evidence of foul play, he said.

Reach Amanda Winters at awinters@sequim

gazette.com.