One day after a 16-year-old from Washington who had been declared missing was found, he was arrested in connection with a murder.
Gabriel Davies, 16, of Olympia, and another 16-year-old were charged in the death of a 51-year-old man in Orting, a small town about 30 miles from Mount Ranier. Police have not made the victim’s name public, according to KING-TV.
The station reported that the man who was killed was the former fiancé of Davies’s mother, citing sources it did not name.
Both 16-year-olds were charged with second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm, The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.
Davies had gone missing on Wednesday after what police called “suspicious circumstances.”
Police said his truck was found abandoned.
“Our deputies found a vehicle with items strewn about, a small amount of blood, inside the vehicle and a phone that had been shattered on the ground,” said Lt. Cameron Simper with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said, according to KCPQ-TV.
Davies had been declared missing after he did not show up for football practice Wednesday after leaving his home in Olympia, according to KOMO-TV.
“He’s now wanted for murder and in jail and I’m horrified. This doesn’t happen in Olympia very often and it makes me sad,” Olympia resident Linda White, who lives near the high school, said, according to KOMO-TV.
Does this sound like something went terribly wrong?
“I’m a mom and raised three kids and went through the high school years with them and you know there’s ups and downs with kids, but murder is a pretty tough thing and a missing child is a really tough thing and as a mom, I can’t even imagine,” White said.
Another resident said, “This is the first I’ve heard about it so, yeah, I’m still absorbing it. In today’s world, anything can happen, and nothing surprises me anymore.”
Thursday was also the day the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department found the murder victim, who had been killed earlier in the week.
Gabriel Davies and his alleged accomplice remain in juvenile detention on suspicion of second-degree murder. https://t.co/OJS7LPJG80
— KIRO 7 (@KIRO7Seattle) September 5, 2022
The victim was identified as Daniel McCaw by KCPQ.
“Our detectives did a lot of work finding evidence at the scene as well as talking to other people and just developing good probable cause to find a connection between the suspects and the victim,” Sgt. Darren Moss of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said, according to KING-TV.
“Ultimately, they were able to get all the evidence they needed by Friday afternoon to make these arrests,” he said.
Residents of the area where the victim was killed said their neighborhood was quiet.
“We keep to ourselves; we keep an eye out for each other up here,” said Ken Brainerd, a neighbor of the victim.
“The only people that come up here other [than] those that live here is the mail lady, so it was quite the shock,” said Brainerd.
“Shocked, not expecting anything like that around here,” Sharon Kisinger said.
