In the crisp autumn air of September 18, 2004, a plume of smoke rising from a residence at 9742 N James Street in Portland, Oregon, prompted a call to the Portland Fire Bureau at approximately 1:00 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find smoke filling the home and made their way inside to investigate the source. On the main floor of the house, they discovered the body of the home's resident, 57-year-old Thomas Swift, a white male.
As they moved to bring him out of the smoky interior, a grim
discovery was made; Swift had sustained a gunshot wound. The initial fire call quickly transitioned into a homicide investigation. The state medical examiner would later confirm that the cause of death was not the fire, but the fatal gunshot wound he had suffered.
Investigators delving into Swift's life found him to be a very private individual who kept his personal affairs to himself. One of the few details that emerged about his habits was that he was known to be a frequent visitor to Sauvie Island and Columbia Beach. The case eventually grew cold, with no arrests made and no suspects publicly identified. The Portland Police Bureau's Cold Case Homicide Unit continues to seek information from the public, hoping that a new lead might shed light on the circumstances surrounding Thomas Swift's death and bring his killer to justice.
