Medical examiner: Body found in Renton woods identified as Leticia Martinez, cause of death was strangulation

A body found earlier this week in Renton has been identified as Leticia Martinez, according to the King County Medical Examiner.

Leticia was last seen March 31 at a Mariners game with Brett Gitchel who is charged with kidnapping and attempted murder of her son.

The remains were found in a wooded area between Talbot Rd. and State Route 167 in Renton. Seattle Police Department's homicide detectives were following leads that took them to that area Tuesday afternoon.

"Still in a state of fog. And then when I got the news I kind of felt more at peace a little bit because we found her," said Leticia's brother, Ricardo Martinez. "We can finally, you know, get the pieces back together and hopefully get some closure with our family."   

Since Leticia's remains were found, King County prosecutors said they plan to amend the charges against Gitchel next week to include a count of Murder in the Second Degree.

The Medical Examiner's Office said her cause of death was strangulation.  

Leticia Martinez (Handout photos / Seattle Police Department)

That is about one mile from where police found her son Patrick Cosman, who investigators say was taken by the man she went to the Seattle Mariners game with.

"I just want to see the person who did this, to get some justice for my sister and my nephew," Ricardo Martinez said. 

King County prosecutors also responded to the location where detectives found the body.

"Every time there’s a homicide in King County, regardless of what day it is —it could be a holiday, it could be the middle of the night— King County prosecutors are at that scene and they’re following that case all the way through," said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. "We’re watching very closely to see what the medical examiner's office does. And we’re in contact with Seattle Police every day, sometimes multiple times a day. And we’re going to continue to because the public expects us to be on top of a case like this or any violent crime."

Related

Who is Brett Gitchel: Docs detail troubled past of man linked to missing woman

Original police reports obtained by FOX 13 show a series of 911 calls made by, or against, Brett Gitchel— the man arrested in connection to the disappearance of Leticia Martinez.  

Newly released charging documents further detail what may have led up to the disappearance of Leticia Martinez. Martinez, 58, was last seen at a Seattle Mariners game on March 31 with 46-year-old Brett Gitchel. She took a selfie of her and Gitchel, sending it to her family.

That was the last time she was seen alive, and Gitchel has been arrested in connection to her disappearance.

Brett Gitchel (Department of Corrections)

"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," court documents said.

Prosecutors allege that Gitchel was the man who Martinez' son came in contact with in the early morning hours of April 2. Her son woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door (from inside the house). He did not recognize the man, but believed he may have been a neighbor. The man told him that his mother had been hurt in a fall and that he could take him to the hospital to see her.

Sometime during the car ride, the man parked the vehicle and tried to put a bag over Martinez' son's head in an effort to choke him. The man then used his forearm, when that didn't work.

Her son fought back and bit the man and was able to escape and hid in the woods.

Related

TIMELINE: What we know so far about the disappearance of Leticia Martinez

Detectives are continuing to look for 58-year-old Leticia Martinez, who was last seen with a man at a Seattle Mariners game on March 31.

Court documents say Gitchel was that man. He had wounds on his hands that look to be scabbed or bite marks. It's unclear if a warrant has been issued for a DNA sample to see if the wounds were caused by her son fighting back.

Phone records determined that Gitchel was in the same area at the same time where Martinez's son had reported the attack, according to court documents.

On that same day, around 6:40 a.m., Martinez's Honda CRV that she took to the Mariners game that day was found burning on the side of the road near Lewis Park and north Beacon Hill. She was not inside. Court documents say the fire appeared to have been intentionally set from the passenger side and that an "unknown accelerant was used."

According to newly released court documents, Gitchel was seen on surveillance footage buying a red one-gallon portable gas container at a Shell gas station on Beacon Ave. S. In a separate transaction at the same gas station, Gitchel purchased a lighter and also filled the container with fuel at the pump.

Surveillance footage indicates that Gitchel purchased the gas container and lighter around 6 a.m. the same day Martinez's car was found burned.

The Shell gas station he was seen in footage buying the gas canister is less than a mile away from where Martinez's car was found, according to Google Maps.

Prosecutor Chris Anderson also said in court on April 7 that Gitchel's phone had pinged where Martinez' car was burned.

Gitchel has now been charged with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree kidnapping (for the attack on Patrick), second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree theft and second-degree arson. Prosecutors also added a charge of second-degree burglary for a separate incident on March 28 in West seattle.

He was arrested at a Shoreline Costco on April 5, accused of stealing $10,000 worth of jewelry from a Costco in Seattle's SODO neighborhood.

Gitchel is being held in the King County Jail where a judge set bail at $5 million. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 28.

Her family said community support has helped make them strong, and now they just want to know why Martinez was killed. 

"She was very giving, sometimes, a little too much," Ricardo Martinez said. "She’s going to be in our hearts, so she’s still with us right now."