ALGER, WA: ISAAC ZAMORA LEFT A COMMUNITY IN PAIN AND SORROW

Isaac Zamora, 28: suspect in six slayings...and more wounded.

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES
The motorcade escorting Deputy Anne Jackson travels south along Riverside Drive on its way to the Hawthorne Funeral Home in Mount Vernon Wednesday afternoon.

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES
"Right now, people are just reeling. It still seems unreal," says Rich Deruiter, a local pastor and chaplain for the Alger community's volunteer fire department.

Alger residents wonder if the pain will ever fade
By Sara Jean Green / Seattle Times staff reporter
Friday, September 5, 2008

The Skagit County community of Alger has been stunned by two horrific crimes: the April slaying of Ferndale high school track coach Jeremy Scully and Tuesday's rampage by alleged gunman Isaac Zamora that left six dead. The people of Alger now wonder if things can ever return to normal.

ALGER, Skagit County — There's no post office here, no community center and no schools.

Though it's one of the oldest communities in Skagit County, Alger isn't even a town. Here, the local tavern — strategically located on the northwest corner of what is essentially a rural crossroads — is the main hub where people gather to swap news and share gossip.

Folks here are largely independent sorts who know their neighbors yet respect each other's privacy. The quiet and solitude are what drew so many to this wooded area that's dotted with lakes but is still just a quick jaunt from the nearest freeway onramp.

In less than five months, though, Alger has been stunned by two horrific crimes: In late April, the body of a popular Ferndale high-school track coach was found on nearby Blanchard Mountain and an Alger man is the prime suspect. Salacious talk about online swingers, an extramarital affair and the yet-unsolved homicide had switched back to more mundane topics when alleged gunman Isaac Zamora went on a shooting rampage earlier this week, killing six people — including a Skagit County sheriff's deputy — and injuring four others.

READ MORE...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008159754_alger05m.html

A candlelight vigil to mourn those killed in Tuesday's shooting rampage will be held at 8 tonight at Alger Community Church. The church is at 1475 Silver Run Lane, about a quarter-mile north of Lake Samish Road off Old Highway 99. Everyone is welcome.

CAYLEE ANTHONY: CHLOROFORM FOUND IN MOM'S CAR

Chloroform Reportedly Found in Car of Missing Florida Tot Caylee Anthony's Mom
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
FOXNEWS.COM

"Significant levels" of chloroform were found in the car used by missing tot Caylee Anthony's mom Casey, MyFOXOrlando.com reported Wednesday, citing sources close to the investigation.

The significance of the find to the Caylee case is not clear, but sources said one of the computers taken from the Anthony home showed someone was searching for information on chloroform and how to use it, the TV station reported.

Chloroform, a solvent, once was used as an anesthetic, because inhaling the vapors depresses the central nervous system, though inhaling too much can be fatal.

Caylee was 2 when she disappeared in mid-June. Casey Anthony, 22, been charged with child neglect any lying to the authorities investigating her daughter's disappearance.

Police this week said they fear the little girl may be dead.

Leonard Padilla, the California bounty hunter who helped secure the release of Casey by posting the required $500,000 bond and then withdrew it, told MyFOXOrlando.com he is willing to get it reinstated.

(snip)

Padilla, who originally thought Caylee was alive, said he now thinks the little girl is dead.

But searchers, despite their scant numbers and suggestions Caylee is dead, haven't given up on finding the girl.

EquuSearch volunteers said they're more determined than ever to find her. The 30 to 40 people combing the Orlando area for Caylee, who would have turned 3 last month, are "not pulling out until they find this baby or exhaust every lead," search director Mandy Albritton told the Orlando Sentinel.

HOW MUCH WORSE CAN THIS STORY GET?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,416281,00.html

ALGER, WA: SIX SHOT, TWO WOUNDED, SUSPECT CAPTURED

Scott Terrell / Skagit Valley Herald
Washington State Patrol troopers and a Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy lead a shooting suspect to the county jail Tuesday afternoon after he led authorities on a high speed chase from Alger to Mount Vernon. Six people were killed in a shooting rampage in Skagit County. (Scott Terrell/Skagit Valley Herald)

A suspect vehicle, metallic tan GMC pickup truck, is seen leaving southbound on Interstate 5 at the Kincaid Street exit in Mount Vernon, Wash., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. The Washington State Patrol says six people are dead and two are wounded after a shooting rampage. Authorities say the suspect turned himself in after the shootings Tuesday afternoon. A sheriff's deputy is among the dead. (AP Photo/Skagit Valley Herald, Scott Terrell)

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Local Sheriffs and police drive down Silver Creek Drive in Alger in Skagit County where several people are reported murdered in a killing spree and car chase on I-5.

JIM BATES / THE SEATTLE TIMES
One of the victims of the shooting spree remains in his car, where it came to rest in the median of I-5 just south of the Alger Exit.

Six people killed, two wounded in Skagit County
By CASEY MCNERTHNEYP-I REPORTER

P-I reporter Casey McNerthney can be reached

at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney@seattlepi.com.

MOUNT VERNON -- Six people were killed, including a Skagit County Sheriff's deputy, in a Tuesday afternoon shooting rampage orchestrated by a man police had previously identified as "possibly mentally disturbed."

Two people also were wounded in what appears to be a series of shootings in seven different Skagit County locations, authorities said.

Among the wounded was a State Patrol trooper who was grazed in the arm during a high-speed chase down southbound Interstate 5. His injuries were not considered life threatening.

State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said several law enforcement agencies were processing seven scenes and still trying to sort out basic details at 6:30 p.m.

The incident began at 2:19 p.m. when police were called to a disturbance in the 19500 block of Silver Creek Drive near the town of Alger, he said. Troopers did not specify what kind of disturbance it was.

The deputy was killed there, as was another person and two construction workers believed to be working at the house.

(snip)

The suspected shooter had been on a Skagit County Sheriff's Office watch list, Leary said.

"From what we were told, he was just going down the road and shooting at people," Leary said.

I'LL TRY TO GET AN UPDATE ON THIS LATER THIS WEEK...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/377497_rampage03.html