— from Sheriff Ron Krebs —
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office has positively identified the body, which was found on the south end of Lopez Island last weekend, as a 61-year-old [woman from] San Antonio TX.
[The woman] purchased a plane ticket and boarded a plane departing San Antonio on the 19th of April arriving in Seattle. From there she purchased a one way ticket on Bellaire Shuttle to Anacortes then purchased a ferry ticket to Friday Harbor. At 8:25 pm she boarded the ferry and approximately 10 minutes later, walked to the rear of the boat and climbed over the rail and jumped in the water with her bags.
After interviewing her relatives and investigating her expense accounts, it is clear she was intent on suicide. The Sheriff’s Office has officially closed the investigation.
[Editor’s Note: Orcas Issues honors the family’s request that the woman’s name not be publicly released.]
What a terribly sad story. It’s good the sheriff closed the case; it seems like there was enough pain without sifting through the details of her life story answering our curiosities. May she rest in peace.
It is sad to know that jumping off the ferry has become a popular choice of a way of offing yourself . In a odd way I understand how it could be. The last thing that you see is the beauty that surrounds you. So very sad…
It is a very sad ending to this woman’s life, but why did it take the ferry system so long to realize that a person jumped off the back of the ferry? Shouldn’t the ferry crew have realized this sooner? Doesn’t someone monitor the many cameras that are onboard the ship to guard against wrongdoing?