A 17 year old is shot and killed in a wooded area in Vancouver, WA In the late summer of 1997, the community of Vancouver, Washington, was shaken by the discovery of the body of 17-year-old Caucasian male, Carle McConnell. On August 29th, his life was tragically cut short, his body found in the 1600 block of Devine Road. The cause of death was quickly determined to be a homicide; he had been fatally shot. The news was a devastating blow to his family, who remember him as a bright and ambitious young man.
Carle's mother, Lani, recalled him being in the
gifted child program as a boy. He was industrious, mowing lawns and delivering newspapers to earn his own money. He even saved enough to fund a school trip to Washington, D.C. A fan of the San Diego Padres, Carle was also a thoughtful son who would occasionally surprise his mother by cooking her dinner. His younger brother, Matthew, who was 14 at the time, looked up to his older sibling, admiring his athletic abilities in various sports. However, in the years leading up to his death, Carle had reportedly begun to struggle, dabbling with drugs around the age of 15, which had a negative impact on his school performance.
For more than two decades, the murder of Carle McConnell has remained an unsolved cold case, with no arrests made and no suspects publicly identified. The Vancouver Police Department Major Crimes Unit has kept the investigation active, maintaining contact with Carle's family who continue to seek justice. In 1998, an investigating detective expressed his professional opinion that this was not a random act of violence and that Carle likely knew his killer or killers, even suggesting he had probably already interviewed the person responsible. Despite this belief, the case has not progressed to an arrest.
The family remains hopeful that someone will come forward with the missing piece of information that will finally bring closure. Law enforcement, in partnership with Crime Stoppers of Oregon, has periodically appealed to the public for help, offering a cash reward for any information that leads to an arrest in this long-unsolved homicide. They urge anyone who knows something about the circumstances of that tragic day in August 1997 to break their silence.
