News

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has launched a homicide investigation after deputies found a 52-year-old woman dead of a gunshot wound in a Redway home.

Details are scant, but the sheriff’s office was called at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday to a call of a possible suicide in the 100 block of Redway Drive. But when a deputy and deputy coroner arrived on scene, the coroner determined the death was not a suicide and a homicide probe was launched. The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of her family.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about the death to call detective Jen Turner at 268-3642 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Line at 268-2539.

Meanwhile, the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has ruled the death of Hugh Duggins in early January was the result of “asphyxia by neck compression” and was a homicide. Duggins’ body was found by someone walking their dog along Alderpoint Road, between Dyerville Loop and Bell Springs roads in Southern Humboldt, on Jan. 12 and appeared to have been there for a day or two. But Deputy Coroner Trevor Enright said it’s unlikely the killing happened at that location.

“Given what we know now, it’s probably a body dump situation,” Enright said.

Between he Redway death, the determination that Duggins’ death was a homicide and a McKinleyville standoff that ended in a shootout that left a 59-year-old suspect dead Wednesday, Humboldt County has recorded nine homicides thus far in 2016, including four shooting deaths. According to the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office, the county recorded 16 homicides in each of 2014 and 2015, with 23 of the 32 caused by gunshot wounds.

See the full sheriff’s office press release copied below:

On Wednesday, August 17, 2016 at about 9:40 a.m. Humboldt County Deputy Sheriffs responded to the 100 block of Redway Drive in Redway for a report of a deceased subject. It was initially reported to law enforcement as a possible suicide. A Deputy and Coroner arrived on scene and observed a deceased female with what appeared to be a gunshot wound lying down. The Coroner determined the death was not a suicide. Detectives arrived on scene and are investigating this incident as a homicide.
The female decedent was approximately 52 years old. The Sheriff’s Office will release her name once next of kin has been notified.
Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case is encouraged to call Detective Jen Turner at (707) 268-3642 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.