For the 19th year, the family and friends of Karen Bodine gathered on the side of Littlerock Road Southwest in Rochester to mark the anniversary of the 37-year-old mother’s death.
Bodine was found dead near a gravel pit on Jan. 22, 2007.
Authorities have ruled Bodine’s cause of death strangulation but have not made an arrest in the case in the 19 years since her body was found.
“The harm did not end in January of 2007. If it had, we would not be standing here 19 years later, still waiting for an arrest,” said Vance Lehnherr, a forensic genetic genealogist and cold case victim advocate, at a candlelight vigil for Bodine on Thursday.
Evidence from the crime scene was sent to the Washington State Crime Lab for advanced forensic testing in March 2023. Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders committed that same year to meeting quarterly with Bodine’s family to provide updates and ensure continued communication.
“Unfortunately, I have to be here again and tell the family that we can't give them the answers that I know that they desperately want,” said Thurston County Sheriff’s Office Detective Wyatt Blankenship, who was assigned to Bodine’s case in 2023. “But what I can say is that we've put a lot of effort into this case, and we're going to continue to put a lot of effort into this case.”
Blankenship and TCSO Sergeant Mickey Hamilton, who did the initial investigation on Bodine’s case as a detective in 2007, represented TCSO at a candlelight vigil for Bodine on Thursday.
“Every training we go to, every conference we go to, we're constantly learning new technologies and seeing what's available. And this is one of those cases that always comes to mind of how we can apply those things to this case,” Hamilton said, adding that there are active leads in the case that TCSO is pursuing.
“This case hasn’t been forgotten,” he said.
“I say it every year, but maybe this will be the year that we get that piece of evidence, that vital piece, to give the family the peace they deserve,” Blankenship said.
Bodine’s family and friends remember her as “someone who made others laugh on their darkest days,” Lehnherr said.
“She carried people going through heavy moments. Karen would always show up, even if it meant walking in the rain or the cold to attend nearly every event her children had,” Lehnherr said. “But above all, Karen was known as a good person.”
Bodine’s eldest daughter, Karlee, remarked Thursday that she is now the same age her mom was when she died.
“That really puts things into perspective for me a little bit, and I've literally lived half my life without her now,” Karlee Bodine said. “I hope I continue to make her proud and do well and make everyone remember her name for the right reasons.”
The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information about Bodine’s case to contact the cold case and missing persons unit at TCSOColdCase@co.thurston.wa.us
Bodine’s family maintains a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForMyMom.KarenBodine, to share updates and honor Bodine’s memory.
