Community Police & Fire

Police find 66-year-old man dead of apparent suicide after woman reports being held against her will

Gig Harbor Police found a 66-year-old man dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a home on Sehmel Drive on Saturday, Nov. 18. The discovery came after a 27-year-old woman said he held her against her will for several days.

The woman walked up to a house on the 10800 block of Sehmel around 10 a.m. Saturday. She told the residents there that she escaped from a home nearby, where an older man prevented her from leaving for multiple days.

She told the neighbors that the man beat her just before she fled the home. She suffered what police called “several deep lacerations” on her head.

When police arrived, she told them the man picked her up in either King or Thurston county several days before. She did not know him previously. She also told them she was a drug user.

Officers located the home where she reported being held and saw blood on the porch. Nobody answered the door when they knocked.

After obtaining a search warrant, police found the remains of the 66-year-old man inside. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Someone had also apparently attempted to start a fire in the house.

Medics took the woman to a hospital for treatment of her wounds.

A statement from the Gig Harbor Police Department said no other individuals appear to be involved in the incident.