April 25, 2019 Update: The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office identified the victim as 52-year-old Danny Hinojosa on Thursday.
His cause of death was homicidal violence.
Our previous coverage below:
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said homicide detectives are investigating after a 52-year-old man was found dead by a friend inside his apartment near Lynnwood Monday afternoon.
No arrests have been made and investigators said they’re working to identify a suspect.
Video from Chopper 7 showed yellow crime scene tape at the Olympus Apartments along Highway 99 near 156th Street SW, which is just north of the Lynnwood city limits.
Deputies said a friend, who hadn’t heard from the victim “for a little bit of time,” drove to the apartment complex just before 1 p.m. and discovered the body.
"It didn't look good whatsoever,” said neighbor James Hall, who told KIRO 7 he’d spoken with an apartment manager who saw inside the victim’s apartment.
"He said a guy was messed up real bad,” said Hall. “A gruesome scene.”
Two other neighbors told KIRO 7 they also got a glimpse inside the man’s apartment as investigators opened and closed the front door and described the victim as lying on the ground, blood everywhere.
Snohomish deputies have not yet said how the man may have died or how long his body had been inside the apartment.
“There’s indications that a lot of violence occurred,” said Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe.
Other neighbors described the victim, whose name hasn’t yet been released by the medical examiner’s office, as a nice guy. A motive for the killing was not immediately available Monday.
O’Keefe said the victim and his attacker likely knew each other but wouldn’t yet elaborate.
“At this time, detectives do believe this is an isolated incident and the public is not in danger,” said O’Keefe.
Deputies were expected to remain the crime scene into the night, O’Keefe said.
"I was shocked, you know, for this apartment complex,” said Hall. “Usually it's pretty, pretty peaceful."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office anonymous tip line at 425-388-3845.
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