Missing Auburn woman found dead in Tukwila hotel of apparent natural causes
Search on for missing Auburn woman
Family and friends are turning to the community to help find their loved one, Margaret Coy. Hillary Coy, the 32-year-old's sisters says Margaret disappeared Friday night after leaving a restaurant in downtown Seattle.
AUBURN, Wash. - A woman reported missing from Auburn last week was found dead in a hotel in Tukwila. The King County Medical Examiner's Office says she apparently died of natural causes.
Margaret Coy was last seen at the end of January leaving a restaurant in downtown Seattle.
"It's very devastating," said Hillary Coy, Margaret's sister. "She’s my sister, I love her and I just want her to be OK."
Coy got a call from her sister's employer on Jan. 29 saying she hadn't shown up to work that day.
"Which is very, very unlike her," Coy said. "I don't think she’s missed a single day of work since she's been there for six years."
Coy says she tried calling Margaret several times. When her calls went unanswered, she filed a missing person's report with Auburn Police and flew up from California to help find her. Their last conversation was Wednesday, Jan. 24. The pair made plans to get together in March. She says their parents, who live in Spain, last heard from her on Thursday.
"She seemed like her normal self," Coy said. "She told my mom she was really happy to have dinner with her friends. She seemed like everything was OK."
Coy says police have since been to Margaret’s home and while nothing seemed out of place, her car was gone. She started tracing her steps and posting to social media asking for help. That’s when she realized no one had heard from her since Friday.
Surveillance cameras picked her up at Pizza Mart in Belltown around 7:30 p.m.
"She seems to be okay," Coy said describing her sister in the video. "It doesn't seem like she's hurt or physically or in any way."
Margaret walks out of the restaurant and down south on Vine Street, before vanishing.
"But after that, we are completely unaware of her, where she is or how she's doing," Coy said last week. "She does suffer from fainting spells so we're really concerned that she might have been hurt."
She says they've called area hospitals but no one matching her name or description is being treated.
Police say Margaret was reported missing a week ago by someone else. A spokesperson for the department says a detective last made contact with her on Jan. 24. She told them she was fine and was planning to visit her sister in California. FOX 13 asked Coy about the previous missing person's report.
"I don't know why someone would have filed it," Coy said. "She never mentioned coming down to California. It just seems very odd it's not like her to just pick up and leave."
Unfortunately, Margaret was found dead at an Extended Stay America on Feb. 4, less than two weeks after her sister had last contact with her. The ME said she died of natural causes from peritonitis/a perforated gastric ulcer.
It's unclear when she checked into the hotel and why, but the medical examiner's office believes she died on Jan. 31 but was found days later.
In a statement, her family said:
"We want to thank you for your support and prayers over the last week as we searched for our beloved Margie. You have been an encouragement during an incredibly difficult time for our family. Please continue to pray for our family as we grieve and mourn her loss."