WENATCHEE, Wash. - There are no suspects and no new leads in the case of a Wenatchee teenager whose body was discovered on a beach in Eastern Washington.
Last Tuesday, 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell left the Academy of Hair Design where she worked, walked to the parking lot and got into her car. It was caught on surveillance videotape.
It's the last time she was seen.
Investigators found her 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix parked in a rural area of Chelan County known as Pitcher Canyon. Her purse was locked inside the car.
On Saturday, people walking along the beach at Crescent Bar found what's believed to be her body.
Investigators searched the beach along the Columbia River and canvassed the neighborhood.
"It's very frustrating from an investigative aspect," said Douglas County Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal. "The guys spent countless hours out there. We have guys from Grant, Douglas and Chelan county all working very hard on the case."
Gjesdal said the details of the case are forcing them to cover a lot of ground.
"It's a very unusual case in that the young woman lived in Douglas County, worked and went missing from Wenatchee, her car was found in a remote part of Chelan County, yet her body was found in a very remote part of Douglas County," he said.
Neighbors say the riverside property where the girl's body was found has been vacant for months. But they noticed some strange changes to the yard Saturday morning, the same day her body was found.
Gary and Judy Ovenell's home overlooks the crime scene along the Columbia River.
"Saturday morning Gary said, 'Look at the brodie marks down there. That's really unusual,'" said Judy Ovenell.
Although the property has been vacant, they say they noticed new tire tracks there Saturday morning.
"There was something I just grabbed onto, focused on it, because it was so strange, 'cause that place, anybody hadn't been to for so long," said Gary Ovenell.
Around noon the same day, a young female's body was found along the shore with her feet in the water.
The body has not been positively identified, but investigators are working on the assumption it's 17-year-old Mackenzie Cowell.
Investigators have found evidence of homicide at the scene and inside the vacant home.
