GOLDENDALE, Wash. — For the first time since a Portland woman's death in Klickitat County last October, the county sheriff publicly addressed the case and the resulting investigation — one that the woman's family has characterized as lacking both urgency and transparency.
Hannah Walker, 31, was discovered dead in a shallow creek near Trout Lake on Oct. 12, 2022. According to a letter circulated by her family's attorneys and addressed to the FBI, she'd been reported missing by a man she'd been staying with and "providing companionship." A Klickitat County deputy found Walker's body downstream, not far from the man's vacation home, the letter claims.
The Klickitat County Sheriff's Office made no public mention of the case, but Walker's family said that Sheriff Bob Songer initially agreed that she had died under suspicious circumstances. Later, the family received "conflicting reports" about whether the case was being treated as a potential homicide or if it had been placed on inactive status.
At a board of commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Hannah Walker's mother, Aia Walker, attended via video. During public comment, she said that she'd been trying to arrange a meeting with Sheriff Songer and the county's prosecuting attorney since January, but they'd refused. The commissioners took her comment but gave no response, and she was not granted another opportunity to speak.
Not long after the comment period, Songer made his first public acknowledgements of the case, saying that his heart goes out to Aia Walker for her loss, but that the coroner's report concluded it was a drowning with "no indication of homicidal action."
"I've had several conversations with Mrs. Walker, and they've ended up where she's very accusatory, where we're a bunch of country bumpkins who don't know what we're doing and so forth," Songer said. "Now I can't go into a lot of detail on this investigation ... "
"Please don't," Commissioner Dan Christopher interjected, chuckling.
"She has an attorney on board so there's a potential for litigation," Songer continued. "I have no further comments on it, other than to tell her that I'm sorry for her loss."
In a statement provided to KGW on Wednesday, Aia Walker said that the meeting did little to put her mind at ease:
"Today, I am thinking about yesterday’s commissioner’s meeting and Sheriff Songer’s statement. I feel dismissed. I’m noticing how they have rigorously enforced protocols for their public meetings (I was allowed one comment and no follow up comment – even at the end of the day’s proceedings) and that they aren’t so concerned with protocols of basic crime investigation.
"It seems interesting that the local newspapers in that area have had the press release for some time without publishing a story. The Goldendale Sentinel has had it for a month or longer, and the others like Columbia Gorge News, The Dalles Chronicle and White Salmon Enterprise have had it a week or more.
"There seems to be a bigger problem than my daughter’s case alone. Several community members have reached out to us with interesting comments about the Sheriff acting with impunity as a general demeanor.
"While I am very discouraged today, the dismissive attitude of the commissioner, Dan Christensen, has actually encouraged me to push for accountability in every way possible."
A report from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab provided by Walker's family found evidence of someone's DNA on her body, including under her fingernails. A man identified by Walker's family as an abusive boyfriend was a "possible contributor" to some of the DNA recovered, but none of the foreign DNA under her fingernails was linked to anyone.
Walker's family has said that there were unidentified boot prints found near Hannah's body, OPB reported. Songer did not provide comment to them on either the boot prints or the DNA results.
