Upon conducting an autopsy report, medical examiners revealed that Karen’s remains did not show any signs of sexual assault.
But, her cause of death was strangulation, and authorities believe that posing the mother in such a way was an effort to shock the public.
Multiple DNA profiles were also identified on Karen’s body and sent out for testing, but the results have not been publicly shared.
And finally, four witnesses did give statements regarding vehicles that had been in the Little Rock Road area of Rochester leading up to the tragedy.
Two of the witnesses cited seeing a 1980s model of a brown Toyota or Datsun-type truck.
The two other witnesses gave the same description but remembered the vehicle as a car.
Despite authorities compiling a long list of leads and suspects, though, Karen’s case has remained cold for over fifteen years.
Detective Mickey Hamilton of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office recently spoke with FOX 13 in January of 2021 and cited his upset over the case.
“The way they left Karen, nobody should have to suffer that kind of indignity,” Det. Hamilton said.
“And I think when you have a case that has as little evidence as this one does and has gone on as long as it has, more than one person was probably involved.”
He also believes that the perpetrator(s) were likely someone close to the mother– but cannot pinpoint a clear motive.