Months after a Portland woman’s drowning in Klickitat County led to concerns that local law enforcement had delivered a half-baked investigation, state officials are stepping in.
A team of investigators from the Washington Attorney General’s Office has already begun reexamining 31-year-old Hannah Walker’s death in October 2022, according to Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer. His detectives had deemed Walker’s death an accidental drowning.
“Nothing so far in this investigation showed anything other than an accidental drowning,” said Songer, who has faced criticism over the investigation from Walker’s family and some locals.
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Songer said in an interview Monday, however, that no matter how certain his office is about their investigation, his agency would welcome any new information from state investigators and “go after that in a heartbeat.”
“And we’d be thankful for their help,” Songer said.
According to the sheriff, state investigators have already visited the scene and conducted interviews. They’ve also asked his office for investigatory materials, he said, which they’ve provided.
Hannah Walker’s mother, Aia Walker, said she is relieved the case will get more scrutiny but remains unsure what the outcome will be now that the case is more than a year old. More eyes might show how the investigation “went awry,” she said.
“We have an escalation to a party that might be able to tell us what happened, or they might be able to assess what’s going on with the sheriff’s office,” Aia Walker said.
State investigators, through a spokesperson, did not answer multiple questions but did confirm an investigation is ongoing.
Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer speaks at a public meeting Aug. 1, 2023, to address concerns about how his office investigated a Portland woman's death in October 2022. Songer said he's convinced the woman died in an accidental drowning.
Troy Brynelson / OPB
Deputies found Walker’s body floating in a creek near Trout Lake on the west end of the sprawling, rural county in the Columbia River Gorge. She had reportedly been visiting a married couple in the area, and the husband called 911 to report her missing after the two had been at the creek together.
Klickitat County detectives initially told Walker’s family that they suspected her death was a homicide. However, they reversed course days later and eventually dubbed it an accident.
Songer’s office did not issue a public statement about the woman’s death at the time, which he later said was unintentional.
Detectives, Songer said, rested much of their conclusion on a conversation with people at the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, which carried out Walker’s autopsy. A detective wrote that he was told Walker’s injuries were consistent with “stumbling around in the water.”
Shortly after the case was closed, community members and some of Walker’s family began raising questions about the investigation’s quality. Walker had unidentified DNA under her fingernails when her body was found, and bootprints near the scene were never identified.
Detectives also did not interview the married couple Walker had been staying with beyond talking with the husband while searching for Walker. The couple later declined an interview with detectives, records show. OPB is not naming the married couple as they have not been charged with any crimes.
Songer, who has rebuked accusations that his office performed an uncritical investigation, said Monday that he asked state investigators to review the case.
“My thinking was, ‘Look, let’s call the AG’s office to go over the investigation and see if there’s anything we can do that we haven’t done,’” Songer told OPB.
A representative for Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson confirmed that the Klickitat County Sheriff’s Office asked for help. Investigators aren’t necessarily reopening the case but are “taking a second look” at the work that’s already been done.
AG spokesperson Brionna Aho said the investigation is open and declined to release more information. It’s unclear how long state investigators will take and what that renewed look could yield.
Songer said he expects state investigators to finish with a report that offers recommendations for his detectives on the case. He said he has never asked the attorney general’s office to step in on a case before.
“We want to dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” Songer said.
Aia Walker, one of the most vocal critics of the investigation, said the state’s involvement has put her in a difficult mindset. She is unsure what state investigators will find and whether any findings will put her at ease.
The findings could give her clarity about her daughter’s death, she said. They could hold Klickitat County accountable for what she calls a negligent investigation. Or it could all lead back to where she is now.
Still, she said, the state’s involvement has “a better chance at a proper investigation.”
