Missing woman’s family sues over police missteps

Delbert Johnson claims law enforcement errors in the search contributed to his wife’s death

By Kevin Harden

Pamplin Media Group, Feb 12, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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Her purple 1999 four-door Honda Accord was seen several hours later that night driving erratically on Highway 12 east of Elma, Wash., in the Puget Sound region. At the time, Tyler Trimble, a Montesano, Wash., parking enforcement officer and police explorer scout, followed the car for several miles, calling emergency dispatchers to report a dangerous driver. No law enforcement officers immediately responded to the call and Trimble eventually lost sight of the Honda as it left the highway and drove into Elma.

Johnson’s name and a description of her car were included in a missing/endangered person bulletin available through the National Crime Information Center database. The lawsuit claims the Grays Harbor County emergency dispatch center failed to heed that information when Trimble reported the erratic driver. The center also failed to report the missing person when Trimble called again from home to report that he had seen Johnson’s missing car.

Nearly two weeks later, on Feb. 7, two biologists taking water samples in the Olympic National Forest discovered Beverly Johnson’s car stalled on a lonely, isolated logging road near Wynoochee Dam. Johnson was locked out of the car and died of exposure in the cold weather. Her body was found on the ground about 20 yards behind the car.

‘I’d be having coffee with her right now’

An investigation into the disappearance by Grays Harbor County officials discovered a string of missed opportunities and missteps that led to the failure to find Johnson’s car on the road days before she died. The 22-page report concluded that no one was to blame for not finding Johnson in time.

Delbert Johnson, her husband of 51 years, declined to discuss the lawsuit in detail, but said law enforcement agencies had several opportunities to find his wife, but failed to take proper action.

“I think a police car with its lights on could have stopped her that night,” Delbert Johnson said from his Beaverton home. “If they had, she’d be alive today. I’d be having coffee with her right now.”

Delbert Johnson said he first learned about the Grays Harbor County law enforcement missteps in mid-February 2007, the same day his family held a memorial service for his wife in Lake Oswego.

“I didn’t know anything about it until that night,” he said. “She could have been picked up off that road right then.”

kevinharden@portlandtribune.com

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