Nearly 20 years later, cold case murder still haunts Snohomish County

Cold case re-opened: Detective and husband retrace steps in 2006 double murder

Snohomish County cold case detectives are revisiting the nearly two-decades-old unsolved murders of Mary and Susannah Stodden, who were killed on the Pinnacle Lake Trail in 2006.

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. - What began as an ordinary Tuesday hike nearly two decades ago remains one of the most high-profile unsolved mysteries in Snohomish County.

On a July day in 2006, Mary Cooper and her daughter, Susannah Stodden, set out along the Pinnacle Lake Trail off the Mountain Loop Highway. They never made it home. Hikers later discovered the two had been shot and killed in a remote clearing at the end of the trail.

Nearly 20 years later, the case remains unsolved. But for David Stodden — husband to Mary, father to Susannah — the pain is still raw.

Local perspective:

"I think often of how much I’ve lost," he read from a poem he wrote in the aftermath of the murders, standing in the very clearing where his family was killed.

Detective Dave Bilyeu with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office has taken up the case from among more than 100 unsolved cold cases in the county.

"You wouldn’t think out of your wildest dreams or nightmares that going on a midweek hike here would result in your death at the hands of another," Bilyeu said.

Bilyeu believes the killings were random. "Salt of the earth people, no known enemies," he said. "They’re miles away from their home in Seattle."

Stodden returned to the site recently with detectives, marking his first time on the trail in several years.

"It’s hard to believe what happened when you look at what’s around here," he said during the hike.

Detectives say other hikers were on the trail that day and eventually found the bodies. Stodden believes whoever was responsible likely took an alternate route out to avoid detection.

"I guess if I killed two people up here, I’d try to find a different way out," he said.

Dig deeper:

Once a person of interest, Stodden was cleared after completing several polygraph tests in 2018. While his name is no longer under suspicion, he admits his mind has never fully healed.

"I traveled the world and climbed tall mountains," he said. "I kind of distracted myself a lot, but I suppose you can only do that for so long."

Detective Bilyeu said the return to the trail has been therapeutic for Stodden.

"You saw the tears on his face earlier. It’s still very raw," Bileu said. "I hike these trails. My family’s from this area. I don’t want a killer loose any more than you do."

Anyone with information about the murders of Mary Cooper and Susannah Stodden is urged to contact the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.

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