COWLITZ COUNTY, Wash. — It has been 40 years and investigators with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office said they are still working to track down the person who murdered 8-year-old Chila Silvernails.
On April 20, 1982, Silvernails had walked down her driveway on Martins Bluff Road in Kalama to wait for her bus, but she was not there when the bus arrived, officials said.
It was not until later in the evening that she was reported missing, after her mother learned she had not showed up for school.
Detectives said a search was conducted and the girl’s body was found the next morning near Shirley Gordon Road.
During the initial investigation, hundreds of interviews were conducted by investigators and several persons of interest were also contacted but no evidence was found to make any connections, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s office said it has continued to investigate the case over the last four decades and is using “new techniques to reexamine evidence collected during the initial investigation.”
Investigators said they believe there are people who have not come forward, or who have withheld information about the case and are asking them to step forward so that justice is served.
Anyone with information about the decades-old case is asked to contact Detective Caity Neill at 360-577-3092. For those who wish to remain anonymous, you can go to this link: https://www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/.../Warrant-or-Suspicious.
©2022 Cox Media Group
