Police Seek Tips in Woodinville Homicide Case

A man found dead in his Woodinville home April 26 has been identified as 71-year-old Earl Jay Cossey, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

The office listed Cossey's cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and said the manner of death was homicide. They also said he died April 23, several days before he was found at his home in the 15000 block of N.E. 192nd Street.

Family members last saw him alive late Monday night April 22. Detectives are asking anyone who had contact with Cossey between Monday, April 22 and Friday, April 26, or knows who he associated with to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311. This line is open 24 hours a day.

Additionally Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest in this crime.  In order to receive the reward you must call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)

Cossey packed the parachutes used by infamous airplane hijacker DB Cooper, who hijacked a passenger jet from Portland, OR, to Seattle in 1971, according to a report by The Seattle Times. Cooper reportedly jumped out of the plane somewhere near the Oregon line and while some of the cash has been found, his fate is unknown, and investigators doubt he survived, the Times report says.

Although King County Sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said she has had many calls asking if this case is related to the DB Cooper case, she said Tuesday, “We have no information that leads us to believe that this case has any relation to the Cooper case.”

Cossey's daughter told authorities she went to check on her father April 26 after she hadn't heard from him in a few days. She found him dead in the home and authorities were called at about 5:30 p.m. that day.

Detectives collected evidence inside the home Saturday, while search and rescue volunteers, some using metal detectors, looked for clues in a wooded area across the street, according to a report by KING-5 News.

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.