SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: Ten days after the disappearance of a Seattle woman who was last spotted at a basketball game, her body has been discovered by investigators. Leticia Martinez-Cosman was seen smiling in a selfie taken at the basketball game along with a male companion who allegedly abducted her son, attempted to murder him, and torched her vehicle.
The 58-year-old woman sent the smiling selfie to her friend. The selfie of herself and Brett Gitchel, 46, was captured on March 31, at a Seattle Mariners game at T-Mobile Park. According to a statement by the police, "SPD Homicide Detectives followed leads obtained during the investigation which resulted in the recovery of a deceased subject in the Renton area Tuesday afternoon," and added, "The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the identity of the deceased and the cause and manner of death," reported KCBY.
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Is Gitchel charged in Martinez-Cosman's death?
Gitchel who faces a string of charges in connection with the kidnap of Martinez-Cosman's adult has not been charged with her missing and possible death. Police received the selfie along with various text messages from the woman's friend following her disappearance, according to court documents. Gitchel first met the vanished woman and her friend on March 19 at a south Seattle Costco.
According to the documents, "Within a three days period, Brett Gitchel was the last person to be seen with Leticia Martinez-Cosman. Brett Gitchel would drive Leticia’s vehicle to a remote area outside Seattle for a short period of time the next day, kidnap and attempt to kill her son, and burn Leticia’s vehicle," reported Fox 13 Seattle.
Gitchel's attempted murder
On April 2, Ricardo Martinez, brother of Martinez-Cosman reported her disappearance. At about 2.00 am on the same day, Gitchel woke up the missing woman's 24-year-old son and told him that his mother had been hospitalized after she was involved in an accident. The man offered her son with intellectual disabilities to drive him to the hospital. Gitchel stopped the vehicle on the way as he said he needed to get some water. He then got into the SUV and attempted to strangle the 24-year-old who then bit him on the hand.
As per the document, the man told the victim "he was doing this for his mother and that this was to spare him from being committed to an institution because of his conditions." He then managed to escape from the vehicle and dialed his father, who asked him to contact 911. Meanwhile, Gitchel fled the scene in his vehicle.
Cops found the son who was bloodied and hidden in a bushy area. He had difficulty in giving details of the happenings. Surveillance footage from April 1 was obtained by investigators who spotted the Gitchel outside Martinez-Cosman's White Center home and he drove to Golf Drive South. A Honda CRV which was found set on fire on April 2 near T-Mobile Park in Golf Drive South was later determined to be Martinez Cosman's. Gitchel has been accused of setting the SUV on fire using a gas canister, reported NY Post.
At a Shoreline Costo, Gitchel was arrested by police on April 5 for allegedly stealing $10,000 worth of jewelry from a SODO neighborhood in Seattle. The suspect faces multiple charges including first-degree theft, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and second-degree arson.
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