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closeWednesday, Nov. 04, 2009
Kennewick man held on $5 million bail, accused of killing dog trainer, search for body suspended
By Tahlia Ganser, Skagit Valley Herald
ANACORTES -- The Skagit County Sheriff's Office has suspended a search for the body of T. Mark Stover, a 57-year-old highly regarded dog trainer who has been missing for five days and presumed dead.
Stover's suspected killer, Michiel Glen Oakes of Kennewick, remains in the Skagit County jail on $5 million bail. Oakes is charged in Skagit County District Court with second-degree murder. Oakes is romantically involved with Stover's ex-wife, Linda Opdycke of Winthrop.
Officials arrested Oakes on Thursday night at Opdycke's home after Stover was reported missing earlier that day.
Opdycke had a protection order issued against her ex-husband in April 2008. She previously reported he came to her Okanogan County home, hid in the bushes and pointed a gun at her, Oakes' arrest affidavit says. The original charging document stated Oakes was 21, but the prosecutor's office says he is 41 years old.
Sheriff's Office Chief Criminal Deputy Will Reichardt said the possibility of another arrest remains in the homicide, though no body has been found in the case.
The sheriff's office led a search for Stover's body Sunday in the Swinomish Channel near a Highway 20 bridge, after a trained cadaver dog indicated there was a body there.
The channel is the closest water access point to Stover's home about a half-mile away, Reichardt said.
"If you were going to dump a body in the water, this would be the most convenient," Reichardt said. "But we don't even know for sure if the body is in the water."
Investigators found Stover's abandoned car Thursday in the Northern Lights Casino parking lot with bloody finger smears on it, court documents said. They also found blood in a hallway and bedroom of his home, just south of Anacortes.
Reichardt said water moves quickly in the channel, making it tough for the dog to pinpoint an exact location where the body might have been dumped. Plus, the body could have drifted far away if dumped there.
About 10 divers from Skagit Dive Rescue and Whatcom Divers searched for the body unsuccessfully until about noon Sunday.
Reichardt said divers could continue searching when weather conditions improve.
"We're not prepared to say it's not there," he said.
Reichardt said investigators are focusing less on finding Stover's body now and more on interviewing witnesses and collecting records connected to Oakes.
Reichardt said the sheriff's office is working with the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab to search three cars seized for evidence, including those of Stover and Oakes. Reichardt did not say to whom the third vehicle belongs.
On Wednesday, just hours after Stover was last seen, a caller reported trespassers at the Summit Park Grange, near Stover's home, according to Skagit County District Court documents.
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