Months after woman's body found in donation bin, family still looking for answers

EVERETT, Wash. — On the night of May 21, Patricia Devalkeneer's family had been looking for her. The 21-year-old was supposed to meet her mother for dinner the night before and she never showed up.

At 10 p.m., a worker discovered Devalkeneer's body inside a Retex clothing recycling bin behind an apartment complex in the 900 block of 132 Street SW, where her family said Devalkeneer didn't know anyone.

"She was alone in the dark, in a place where disregarded stuff was," said Devalkeneer's brother, Donald Devalkeneer.

Donald Devalkeneer says after months of waiting for autopsy reports, his family believes the mysterious circumstances of her death may have been overlooked. "We've started spreading her ashes and we still have no answers."

Devalkeneer's family was told Snohomish County Sheriff deputies found no clear signs of foul play, and that she may have died of a drug overdose.

But the Snohomish County Medical Examiner told KIRO 7 they're still waiting for toxicology tests from the state crime lab, and the case is still unsolved.

Donald Devalkeneer doesn't believe his sister was able to climb into the bin alone.

"She was not tall, and the donation bin is, so she would literally have to pull herself up to climb into it," Donald Devalkeneer said, referring to the trap door in the bin meant to keep people out.

The only way to do that is if you laid in the bin and let it fall over, he said.

"I would like answers. that's all my family's looking for, we would like closure, we want to move on," he said.

Cox Media Group