A woman's body was discovered Nov. 19 in a shopping cart not far from the Ballard Bridge.
Now Seattle police are searching a recreational vehicle that's still parked nearby for evidence of murder.
The man who discovered the body spoke to KIRO 7, but asked that he not be identified. At first he thought the overturned shopping cart outside his workplace on Northwest 46 Street in Ballard was full of garbage.
But when he tried to pull the cart to an upright position, an arm fell out of a large, blanket-bound bundle inside.
"I was shocked, and the first thought was, call 911," he said Wednesday. "It appeared the body was head down (and) feet down, like it was lifted from the waist and lowered into the cart
"One of the questions the detectives asked me is, did it look like she crawled into the cart and I said, no because she was totally wrapped up in a blanket. … Nobody could crawl into a shopping cart in that position."
Police documents identify the dead woman as Ann Zachariasen, who has lived on the streets of Ballard for years.
The man who found her body recognized Zachariasen because of her distinctive purple hair when shown a photo from her Facebook page.
Zachariasen's cause of death is still unknown, pending toxicology reports, but she may have been murdered, according to police documents.
A Seattle police detective filed a search warrant to examine a recreational vehicle for "evidence of the crime of murder" -- including weapons, blood, DNA, and any items that link Zachariasen to the vehicle.
The RV is still parked in Ballard, less than a mile from where Zacharian's body was found.
A witness told police he also has seen the same vehicle parked beneath the Ballard Bridge, just feet from where Zacharian's body was apparently dumped.
According to police, a surveillance camera at a business on Shilshole Avenue Northwest captured video on Nov. 19 of two unidentifiable people pushing a shopping cart from beneath the Ballard Bridge westbound, to where the body was found a few hours later.
A relative of Zachariasen told police she may have been using heroin with the two people who live in the RV in the days before her body was found.
The man who discovered the body is frustrated by what he calls a significant increase in drug use and homelessness near the Ballard Bridge in the years he's worked in the area.
"I have a heart for people who are down on their luck, but people who are deciding to live a drug-addled life, that's a different situation" he said.
Police are also investigating the two named in the search warrant for possible unlawful disposal of remains, but KIRO 7 is not identifying them because they haven't been arrested.
A spokeswoman for the Seattle Police Department declined to comment.
KIRO
