(Scroll down for tonight’s newest info)

(Monday photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)

2:32 PM: Three days after a woman was found dead in the water off Beach Drive, near Cormorant Cove Park – as covered here extensively on Monday – Seattle Police finally have announced that it’s being investigated as a murder case.

We have checked daily since then, and until this afternoon, they would only characterize it as a “death investigation.” But now, here’s what police are saying:

Seattle Police are asking the public for assistance in an active homicide investigation. On March 12th at approximately 7:30 a.m. a citizen reported seeing a body floating in Puget Sound approximately 30 feet off-shore of the 3800 block of Beach Drive SW. Officers and detectives responded to the scene and have since determined that the deceased, a 51-year-old female from Kent, was murdered. Homicide detectives believe the victim (photo right) parked her car in the 4400 block of Beach Drive SW on Sunday night, March 11th. The victim had planned to take a walk along the beach but was found deceased just offshore the next morning. The suspect(s) remain at large. If you have information about this incident or if you saw any suspicious activity, vehicles or persons in the area on the evening of Sunday, March 11th, please call 911 or the Seattle Police Homicide Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. Anonymous tips are welcome. You can also call Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Police say the cause of death will have to be released by the Medical Examiner, which also will be the source for her name; we have heard a name from a source but will not publish it until we have confirmed it with the Medical Examiner. Police also have released this photo of her car, a 2010 Buick Lacrosse, which appears to have been photographed across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, a few blocks south of where her body was found:

Police added this to their report on SPD Blotter:

The Seattle Police would like to remind everyone to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings anytime you are outdoors and especially in the hours of darkness. This remains an active and ongoing homicide investigation.

This is the second murder of the year in West Seattle; the first was a deadly shooting next to Morgan Junction Park in January (a suspect is jailed and awaiting another hearing next month).

3:20 PM UPDATE: The Medical Examiner identifies the victim as Greggette Guy but says final word on how she died is “pending.”

ADDED 5:35 PM: For those not familiar with the Beach Drive area, here’s a Google Map showing the spots where Ms. Guy’s body was found and where her car was found:



View Beach Drive locations in a larger map

One commenter wondered if flyers would be distributed in the area, to reach those who don’t see news reports about this (citywide organizations have picked it up now); we have heard from two police sources that flyers are indeed planned. (Let us know if you see any – we don’t know the timetable, but have already taken one drive through the area to look.)

6:29 PM UPDATE: We just received a scan of the flyer from Richard Worthington of Seattle Real Estate Associates (WSB sponsor):

He says police are indeed canvassing the area to ask if anyone saw anything or anybody out of the ordinary.