PORT TOWNSEND — A Fife woman who went missing in the Quilcene area in late January has been found dead by a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office drone.
The body of Barbara J. Fraley, 68, was found Friday evening in thick brush about one-fourth to one-half of a mile away from Fuller Road, where her vehicle had been discovered earlier, said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brett Anglin.
She was over half a mile away from U.S. Highway 101. Detective Jon Stuart was conducting additional drone flights in the area when her body was spotted.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s officials suspect Fraley succumbed to the elements and that she died shortly after she went missing on Jan. 31. He said nighttime temperatures were in the low 40s all week.
“All evidence seem to point to exposure at this moment,” Anglin said.
A final determination of the cause of her death will be made by the Jefferson County Coroner.
Anglin said Fuller Road, a few miles north of Quilcene just before the intersection with state Highway 104, dead-ends at an old homestead and an uninhabited house. Anglin said he knew of no reason for anyone other than the property owner to travel down the road.
Anglin said Fraley suffered “from some sort of cognitive decline” and that may have caused her to wander off. She was reported missing Jan. 28 from her home in Fife and was known to have checked out of a Tacoma-area motel on Jan. 30. Her phone appears to have gone dead on Jan. 31, he said.
Search and rescue crews from Snohomish County, Mason County and Jefferson Search and Rescue looked for Fraley in the Snow Creek and Crocker Lake area but found no sign of her. That search was called off Wednesday.
Anglin said law enforcement has no idea why she came up to the Quilcene area from Fife. She had no obvious ties to the area.
Anglin said the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office does provide a service called Project Lifesaver, which allows families to use technology to track elderly loved ones perhaps suffering from cognitive decline if they go missing. To learn more about Project Lifesaver, go to www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org/278/Project-Lifesaver.
________
Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be reached at plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
