Man found dead in Fox Island identified

FOX ISLAND, Wash. -- A small town is in shock after the body of a 23-year-old Gig Harbor man was discovered near a grocery store. Pierce County sheriff’s deputies say they are investigating his death as a homicide.

Xuri Dively couldn’t believe what she saw when she stopped to get gas on her way to school Thursday morning. A body had been found in the grass next to Fox Island Grocery & Deli.

“It was just kind of taped off, they didn’t cover the body. It was still lying there,” she said. “It was kind of dark, but there was definitely a man lying on the ground.”

On Friday, the man was identified as Jacob Glenn, and the store employee who found his body said it appeared he had been stabbed to death, the News Tribune of Tacoma said Friday.  The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet ruled on cause or manner of death.

“It does appear he did die of homicidal violence,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesperson Ed Troyer said Thursday. “What the exact cause of death is, that's yet to be determined by the Medical Examiner's Office.”

They’re hoping an autopsy will also shed some light on when the man may have died.

“We’re investigating it, trying to figure out where he was before the homicide,” Troyer said. “It might have been last night, could have been early this morning, but he wasn't found until 5:50 this (Thursday) morning.”

Fox Island residents say they can’t remember the last time there was a murder in this community. They say crime usually isn’t an issue here.

“We don’t lock our doors. I walk around the island without my phone. It seems like a safe environment,” Dively said.

That’s why she has trouble believing that she actually saw a dead man there.

“It’s more like a fantasy, it’s hard to think it’s real.”

She’s hoping this was an isolated case and investigators will catch the person responsible. But she’s worried that Fox Island may no longer be immune to trouble, like she thought it was.

“I know they busted a lot of meth houses on Key Peninsula, which is close to here. So I’m thinking, are we the next place where drug dealing is going to happen?”

Sheriff’s deputies don’t know if drugs were an issue in this case. They say it’s still early in their investigation.

If anyone on Fox Island saw something or has information that might help investigators, they should contact the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.