PORTLAND, Ore. — Chrysanthius Lathan is not mincing words when it comes to the person — or people — behind the killing of her cousin, 44-year-old father Jeremy Gurtner.
"There's a special place in hell for people who take people's lives," Lathan said. "I don't know who was involved but whoever was involved is a sick individual. I don't care what lifestyle someone lives, no one deserves their life to be taken away."
Especially not Jeremy. Family described him as a man of many talents.
"He's inarguably one of the smartest people I know," Lathan said. "He could do anything he put his mind to. He could fix anything from a Walkman to a car alternator. He could fix or do anything. He could cook, draw. He was handsome."
Authorities tell KGW that on April 8 somebody found the 44-year-old's body in the Columbia River Slough near Northeast 105th and Alderwood, in the shadow of I-205. Detectives are not saying much other than that Jeremy died of homicidal violence, and when his body was found he had been dead for anywhere from four days to two weeks.
"It's extremely surprising, very surprising because we'd never think this would happen," said Emanuel Price Jackson, another one of Jeremy's cousins. "We all want the same answers, It's not important for just myself but for my family, his mom and sisters, all of our uncles and cousins. We want to know what happened."
Along with answers, Jeremy's family wants justice, starting with an arrest.
"It's important that this person is found before someone else has to go through what we're going through right now," Lathan said.
CrimeStoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information that leads to an arrest in the case.