By Tim Clifford

​A grim discovery awaited Adam Cox and his fiancé when they returned to their car on Aug.29 at the Hannegan Pass trailhead after hiking on Mount Baker for 5 days. Their vehicle had been broken into, the cables to the battery had been cut and a backpack with their wallets, keys and a cellphone was missing

​To make matters even more nightmarish when Cox called Seattle PD to have them check on his residence at the 2600 block of 47 Ave. S.W., they discovered that the thieves had driven the 3 hours from Mount Baker and broken into the couple’s home.

​According to witness accounts from various neighbors during the time the couple was away the suspects, a white male in his 20’s and a Middle Eastern (possibly Indian) male, were seen climbing the roof of the home to gain entrance and eventually succeeded in climbing through a window. A neighbor took note of the suspects on the roof (though apparently didn’t call police) and took down the license plate to the vehicle that the suspects arrived in, described as an Astrovan.
​Unfortunately this same neighbor also lost the piece of the paper with the Astrovan’s license number at the time of the police investigation.

​On Aug. 27th the mother of Cox’s fiancé visited the residence to water the couple’s garden and noticed that the Pathfinder was at that time still in the driveway. The Pathfinder had not been operable for some time due to a dead battery.

​A day or so later neighbors say that they noticed two beaten up old trucks parked in the alleyway adjacent to the hiking couple’s home. One truck identified as a late 80’s possibly early 90’s model Ford Ranger (and which may have a driver’s side door that is a different color from the rest of the car) was being used to jump start the Nissan Pathfinder. Eventually the car was started and driven away with the two trucks.

​The suspect seen driving the Ford Ranger and working under the hood of the two vehicles is described as a Hispanic male in his 20’s or 30’s with facial hair.

​The tabs on the Pathfinder are also expired.

​When police arrived at the home and checked the inside of the house they found that closets, cabinets and drawers all over the home had been rifled through and ransacked. Two bicycles and a desktop computer were found to have been among the items stolen from within the home.

​Items that were apparently tampered with by the suspects were taken into evidence and multiple fingerprints were lifted near windows and doors. Police are asking that anyone with any information regarding this incident or the suspects described please contact their nearest precinct.

​The incident has raised questions about having one’s address on their registration in their car. Police have been answering this concern by saying that it is legal for drivers to black out the address line on their registration as long as their name remains visible on the documents.