Detective Jeff Rhoades with the Mason County Sheriff’s Office said in this article that Tracy West (17) went missing on October 20, 1988.
At approx. 4pm, she left her home in Shelton, Washington, on her motorcycle to go to work at a restaurant in Taylor Towne. Work was about ten minutes away from home.
She always took the same well-travelled trail. She never arrived at work that day. Police believe that Tracy was abducted from that trail.
That evening, the restaurant manager called Tracy’s family and soon after, the authorities were involved. Very quickly, they found her bike. The keys were in the ignition. The bike was in the brush to the side of the trail. Her glasses were nearby as well as her helmet. It had some scuff marks on it.
Many have said that the scene was staged. You can see the bike here in this article. Tracy’s bike was upside down to make it look like a crash. “Her helmet was found with marks on the side, and her glasses were also discovered nearby.” As you can see, the glasses appear to be intact.
If Tracy herself had staged this scene to run away, it is noteworthy that she never accessed her savings account. Why would she leave her glasses? Did she have a spare? She apparently did well at school and seemed happy working at the restaurant. It seems more likely that the staging was done by people other than Tracy.
Six years later, on October 17, 1994, a skull was found by a hunter. It was Tracy’s. Nearby, the authorities found “a bunch of personal items” matching the description of personal items that Tracy was said to have with her when she went missing. None of these items were ever found before. I imagine that the area had been searched many times when Tracy went missing. It is said that the items were planted there as it was close to the anniversary of her disappearance.
From the papers, it is not clear whether the skull is the only part of Tracy’s remains that were ever found. There is a quote from Tracy’s uncle, Tom Randall, in the papers when the three Emery Brothers were discussed. They were under investigation for crimes against children.
“I really hope it wasn’t these guys,” said Randall. “That just doesn’t sound like a way to die.”
The family has long feared that Tracy was tortured before she died.
“Oh yes,” said Randall. “Because her hands were bound behind her back, we know that.”
This quote implies that her whole skeleton was ultimately found. I have not read that online so I don’t understand the quote. If you have a link to an article that explains exactly what parts of Tracy’s skeleton were found, please let me know.
The referenced articles also mention that cadaver dogs were used to search the Emery brothers home and 14-acres of heavily wooded property but I have not found any end results in the papers. According to a thread on Reddit, the brothers were never officially regarded as suspects in Tracy’s disappearance. I have not found anything else about Tracy or her case online.
Contact Information
If you have any information that can help police please call Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS. You can remain anonymous.
Further reading
The Olympian Nov 3, 1988 page 1 continued on page 12
The Olympian October 21,1994 page 28
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In the series “Case of the Month” I highlight old cold cases. These posts are not an in-depth analysis and of course, more information can be found online and in newspaper archives.
We need to get these cases back in the mainstream media, to get people talking again, and if anything, to make sure that we do not forget the victims. Just because their cases are unsolved does not mean that we can forget about them.
With the advances we made in modern forensic sciences, we may have a chance to find clues that previous remained hidden because we did not have the technology. Now that we do, let us review all these old cases once more.
I encourage you to share this post on your own social media platforms. By sharing these posts, the cases reach new networks, new connections, and new online news feeds. One day these updates may pop up in the right person’s news feed. This may be someone who can help advance the case and that is my goal.
Rest in peace, Tracy West.